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Intergenerational transfer of health inequalities: exploration of mechanisms in the Birth to Twenty cohort in South Africa.

ABSTRACT: South Africa's history of colonialism and Apartheid contributed to its extreme levels of inequality. Twenty-five?years after the transition to democracy, socio-economic and health inequalities continue to rank among the highest in the world. The Birth to Twenty+ study follows a cohort born in urban Johannesburg in 1990 through their early lives and into young adulthood. Also known as 'Mandela's Children', these 'children of the '90s' were the first generation to be raised in a democratic society, whose elected government implemented policies to achieve greater socio-economic and health equality. Correlating early life outcomes to those of their parents provides a baseline estimate of intergenerational transmission of historical inequality. Analyses of their early life course indicates the potential breakdown in inequality in the first generation. This paper provides an overview of empirical results on intergenerational change in socio-economic status and health during South Africa's political transition. Access to infrastructural services improved, and poverty reduced following the rapid expansion of unconditional cash transfers mainly to children and pensioners. However, unemployment remained high and job discrimination continued. Inequalities in health follow similar patterns, and progress did not equate to convergence. Some catch-up physical growth occurred-both across groups and over time-but not sufficient to bridge cognitive inequalities. Socio-economic and health inequalities continued as the children of the '90s reached young adulthood. Based on knowledge of other transitions, it is likely that these inequalities will only start to break down in later generations, provided social and economic progress holds steady.

SUBMITTER: von Fintel D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6747925 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Intergenerational transfer of health inequalities: exploration of mechanisms in the Birth to Twenty cohort in South Africa.

von Fintel Dieter D Richter Linda L

BMJ global health 20190913 5

South Africa's history of colonialism and <i>Apartheid</i> contributed to its extreme levels of inequality. Twenty-five years after the transition to democracy, socio-economic and health inequalities continue to rank among the highest in the world. The Birth to Twenty+ study follows a cohort born in urban Johannesburg in 1990 through their early lives and into young adulthood. Also known as 'Mandela's Children', these 'children of the '90s' were the first generation to be raised in a democratic ...[more]

PMID: 31565421

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Project description:BackgroundVery little is known about socioeconomic related inequalities in multimorbidity, especially in developing countries. Traditionally, studies on health inequalities have mainly focused on a single disease condition or different conditions in isolation. This paper examines socioeconomic inequality in multimorbidity in illness and disability in South Africa between 2005 and 2008.MethodsData were drawn from the 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 rounds of the nationally representative annual South African General Household Surveys (GHS). Indirectly standardised concentration indices were used to assess socioeconomic inequality. A proxy index of socioeconomic status was constructed, for each year, using a selected set of variables that are available in all the GHS rounds. Multimorbidity in illness and disability were constructed using data on nine illnesses and six disabilities contained in the GHS.ResultsMultimorbidity affects a substantial number of South Africans. Most often, based on the nine illness conditions and six disability conditions considered, multimorbidity in illness and multimorbidity in disability are each found to involve only two conditions. In 2008 in South Africa, the multimorbidity that affected the greatest number of individuals (0.6% of the population) combined high blood pressure (BP) with at least one other illness. The combination of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and other condition or conditions is the least reported (i.e. 0.02% of the population). Between 2005 and 2008, multimorbidity in illness and disability is more prevalent among the poor; in disabilities this is yet more consistent. The concentration index of multiple illnesses in 2005 and 2008 are -0.0009 and -0.0006 respectively. The corresponding values for multiple disabilities are -0.0006 and -0.0006 respectively.ConclusionWhile there is a dearth of information on the socioeconomic distribution of multimorbidity in many developing countries, this paper has shown that its distribution in South Africa indicates that the poor bear a greater burden of multimorbidity. This is more so for disability than for illness. This paper argues that, given the high burden and skewed socioeconomic distribution of multimorbidity, there is a need to design policies to address this situation. Further, there is a need to design surveys that specifically assess multimorbidity.

Project description:BackgroundAdolescence is marked by a decline in physical activity, rapid physical growth and changes in body composition, which have been linked to body composition. Prospective data on these associations are rare, particularly in Africa.AimThe aim of this study was to examine the association of longitudinal patterns across adolescent in physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep, with anthropometry and body composition at age 18 years in urban South Africa.MethodsWe analyzed data from the Birth-to-Twenty Plus Cohort (Bt20+), a longitudinal study of children born in 1990 in Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa. We used general linear models to investigate the association of adolescent (ages 12 to 18 years) longitudinal trends in physical activity, sedentary behavior and schoolnight sleep and overall physical activity patterns, with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, fat mass index (FMI), lean mass index (LMI) and percent body fat at age 18 years.ResultsThe final study sample included 1337 participants with anthropometric measurements (52% female) and 958 participants with body composition measurements (53% female). Males who were consistently more active and consistently walked to school over adolescence had lower waist circumference (B = - 2.0, 95% CI: - 3.9 to - 0.2), FMI (B = - 0.8, 95%: CI: - 1.2 to - 0.1) and percent body fat (B = -2.9, 95% CI: - 4.9 to - 0.9) at age 18 years than those who decreased activity and did not walk to school. Consistently-sedentary females had higher waist circumference than those whose sedentary behavior increased over adolescence (B = 5.4, 95% CI: 0.2 to 10.6). Males who reported sleeping 9 h or more per night on schoolnights had significantly lower BMI (B = -1.0, 95% CI: - 1.4 to- 0.5), and percent body fat (B = -1.5, 95%CI - 2.8 to - 0.1) than those who reported sleeping 8 h or less per night.ConclusionPatterns of adolescent physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep are related to young-adult body composition in urban South Africa. These modifiable behaviors may be paths for public health interventions to curb overweight and obesity in many low- or middle-income countries.

Project description:BackgroundAdolescence is a critical phase of human development that lays the foundation for health in later life. Of the 1.8 billion adolescents in the world, roughly 90% live in low and middle-income countries. Yet most longitudinal studies of adolescent physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep come from high-income countries. There is a need for a better understanding of these behaviors to inform obesity and chronic disease prevention strategies.AimsThe aim of this study is to identify longitudinal patterns and associations between physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep in urban South African adolescents.MethodsWe analyzed data from the Birth-to-Twenty Plus Cohort (Bt20+), a longitudinal study of children in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. Behaviors were self-reported annually between ages 12 and 17 y. We used Latent Class Growth Analysis to group participants into classes based on common longitudinal trajectories of time spent in informal physical activity, organized sports, walking to and from school, sedentary behavior, and school-night and weekend sleep, respectively. We performed group-based multi-trajectory modeling to identify latent clusters of individuals who followed similar trajectories of informal physical activity, organized sports and walking to and from school, and who followed similar trajectories of these three domains together with sedentary behavior and sleep.ResultsThe large majority of males (82%) and all females failed to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) physical activity recommendation for adolescents of 60 min of moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity per day. The physical activity domains clustered together in three multi-trajectory groups that define individuals' overall physical activity pattern. While two patterns indicated decreases in physical activity throughout adolescence, one pattern, including 29% of the sample in males and 17% of the sample in females, indicated higher levels of activity throughout adolescence. Sedentary behavior and sleep trajectories did not cluster together with the physical activity domains.ConclusionMost adolescents in this South African population did not meet WHO recommendations for physical activity. In this population, trajectories of sedentary behavior and sleep were independent of physical activity.

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Intergenerational transfer of health inequalities: exploration of mechanisms in the Birth to Twenty cohort in South Africa.

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Intergenerational transfer of health inequalities: exploration of mechanisms in the Birth to Twenty cohort in South Africa.

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