OSC Scientific Seminar 2021-2022

Friday 10th September 2021, 11:30 am / 1:00 pm (Zoom videoconference)

Unequal from birth: causes and consequences of socio-economic inequalities
in health at birth

Lidia Panico

Chargée de recherche, INED

 Socio-economic inequalities in health are well documented in the literature. Such inequalities appear to persist over time, accumulate throughout life, and seem to begin from birth.
A long standing literature has described significant socioeconomic disparities in key birth health indicators, such as prematurity and birthweight, which appear to influence health and development throughout life.
While studies are mostly based on data issued from Anglosaxon countries, a smaller literature has shown that inequalities in birth health are also evident in countries such as Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Spain, where the underlying socioeconomic stratification and health care access is significantly different.

This presentation will paint a picture of inequalities in France in birtweight, using nationally representative birth cohort data.
Using highly harmonized data, I first will compare gradients in France to those issued from the US and the UK, and analyse whether the relative importance of a set of potential mechanisms producing inequalities in birthweight varies across these three countries.
Finally, I will explore whether birthweight is correlated to a number of developmental indicators in early childhood, and explore potential mechanisms behind these relationships.

Registration is mandatory to join the ZOOM meeting (the link will be sent one day before)