Dataset Information

Does Place Matter? An International Comparison of Early Childhood Development Outcomes between the Metropolitan Areas of Melbourne, Australia and Montreal, Canada.

ABSTRACT: There is strong consensus about the importance of early childhood development (ECD) for improving population health and closing the health inequity gap. Environmental features and public policies across sectors and jurisdictions are known to influence ECD. International comparisons provide valuable opportunities to better understand the impact of these ecological determinants on ECD. This study compared ECD outcomes between metropolitan Melbourne (Australia) and Montreal (Canada), and contrasted disparities across demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Methods: Population wide surveys using the Early Development Instrument (EDI) were conducted among 4-6 years-old children in both Montreal and Melbourne in 2012, measuring five domains of ECD: 1-Physical Health/Well-Being (PHYS); 2-Social Competence (SOC); 3-Emotional Maturity (EMOT); 4-Language/Cognitive Development (COGN); and 5-Communication Skills/General Knowledge (COMM). Descriptive analyses of summary EDI indicators and domain indicators (including median scores and interquartile ranges) were compared between metropolitan areas, using their respective 95% confident intervals (CIs). Analyses were performed using Stata software (v14). Results: The proportion of children developmentally vulnerable in at least one domain of ECD was 26.8% (95% CIs: 26.2, 27.3) in Montreal vs. 19.2% (95% CIs: 18.8, 19.5) in Melbourne. The Melbourne advantage was greatest for EMOT and COGN (11.5% vs. 6.9%; 13.0% vs. 5.8%). In both Montreal and Melbourne, boys, immigrants, children not speaking the language of the majority at home, and those living in the most deprived areas were at greater risk of being developmentally vulnerable. Relative risks as a function of home language and area-level deprivation subgroups were smaller in Montreal than in Melbourne. Conclusion: This study shows that Melbourne's children globally experience better ECD outcomes than Montreal's children, but that inequity gaps are greater in Melbourne for language and area-level deprivation subgroups. Further research is warranted to identify the environmental factors, policies, and programs that account for these observed differences.

SUBMITTER: Dea C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6720425 | biostudies-other | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Does Place Matter? An International Comparison of Early Childhood Development Outcomes between the Metropolitan Areas of Melbourne, Australia and Montreal, Canada.

Dea Catherine C Gauvin Lise L Fournier Michel M Goldfeld Sharon S

International journal of environmental research and public health 20190814 16

There is strong consensus about the importance of early childhood development (ECD) for improving population health and closing the health inequity gap. Environmental features and public policies across sectors and jurisdictions are known to influence ECD. International comparisons provide valuable opportunities to better understand the impact of these ecological determinants on ECD. This study compared ECD outcomes between metropolitan Melbourne (Australia) and Montreal (Canada), and contrasted ...[more]

PMID: 31416243

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Project description:The purpose of this study was to describe dietary patterns among 1636 French-speaking men residing in Montreal, Canada and to assess sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics of men adhering to the dietary patterns identified. Participants were population controls from the Prostate Cancer and Environment Study, a case-control study conducted between 2006 and 2011 in Montreal. Information on diet was collected using a food frequency questionnaire, and principal component analysis, a data-driven method and a posteriori method, was used to identify dietary patterns. Three dietary patterns were identified; Healthy, Modified Western - Salty and Modified Western - Sweet patterns accounted for 7.0%, 5.4%, and 3.2% of the variance, respectively. The Healthy pattern was characterized by consumption of fruits, vegetables, vegetable soup, chicken, fish and seafood, cheese, rice, yogurt, and wine. The Modified Western - Salty pattern included high loadings for beef, pork, chicken, hot-dogs or sausages, cold cuts, bacon, barbecue cooking, meat slightly blackened, potatoes, pasta with tomato sauce, pizza, pastries, dark carbonated soft drinks, ice cream, and white bread. The third pattern, labelled as Modified Western - Sweet, had high loadings of cookies, muffins, cakes, pastries, pies, ice cream, fruits and vegetables. In multivariate analyses, the Healthy pattern was positively associated with higher income and education, moderate recreational physical activity and less heavy smoking, and inversely associated with French ancestry. The Modified Western - Salty pattern was positively associated with French, other European, and Latino ancestries, and with married and common-law relationships. Finally, the Modified Western - Sweet pattern was more common among men of French ancestry and users of vitamin/mineral supplements. The Healthy pattern has been frequently observed in other Western populations, but the other two are described for the first time in a study population of men.

Project description:BackgroundPrecarious status migrants are a group of persons who are vulnerable, heterogeneous, and often suspicious of research teams. They are underrepresented in population-based research projects, and strategies to recruit them are described exclusively in terms of a single cultural group. We analyzed the recruitment strategies implemented during a research project aimed at understanding precarious status migrants' health status and healthcare access in Montreal, Canada. The research sample consisted of 854 persons recruited from a variety of ethnocultural communities between June 2016 and September 2017. This article analyzes the strategies implemented by the research team to respond to the challenges of that recruitment, and assess the effectiveness of those strategies. Based on the results, we share the lessons learned with a view to increasing precarious status migrants' representation in research.MethodA mixed sequential design was used to combine qualitative data gathered from members of the research team at a reflexive workshop (n?=?16) and in individual interviews (n?=?15) with qualitative and quantitative data collected using the conceptual mapping method (n?=?10).ResultsThe research team encountered challenges in implementing the strategies, related to the identification of the target population, the establishment of community partnerships, and suspicion on the part of the individuals approached. The combination of a venue-based sampling method, a communications strategy, and the snowball sampling method was key to the recruitment. Linking people with resources that could help them was useful in obtaining their effective and non-instrumental participation in the study. Creating a diverse and multicultural team helped build trust with participants. However, the strategy of matching the ethnocultural identity of the interviewer with that of the respondent was not systematically effective.ConclusionThe interviewers' experience and their understanding of the issue are important factors to take into consideration in future research. More over, the development of a community resource guide tailored to the needs of participants should be major components of any research project targeting migrants. Finally, strategies should be implemented as the result of a continuous reflexive process among all members of the research team.

Dataset Information

Does Place Matter? An International Comparison of Early Childhood Development Outcomes between the Metropolitan Areas of Melbourne, Australia and Montreal, Canada.

Publications

Does Place Matter? An International Comparison of Early Childhood Development Outcomes between the Metropolitan Areas of Melbourne, Australia and Montreal, Canada.

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