Archives: Publications

Objective
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between maternal obesity that is calculated 9 months after delivery and sociodemographic variables.

Study Design
A national cohort of mothers was sampled 9 months after delivery as part of the Growing Up in Ireland Study Infant Cohort. Sociodemographic and clinical details were recorded at the interview by trained fieldworkers who used validated questionnaires. Body mass index was calculated based on weight and height measurements at the postpartum interview. The unadjusted and adjusted odds of obesity were calculated for predictor variables with the use of logistic regression analysis.

Results
Of the 10,524 mothers whose cases were studied, the mean age was 31.6 ± 5.5 years, and the mean parity was 1.0 ± 1.1. The mean body mass index after delivery was 25.7 ± 5.4 kg/m2; 16.8% of the women (n = 1768) were obese. Postpartum maternal obesity levels were associated positively on univariable analyses with smoking, lower household income, African nationality, earlier completion of full-time education, gestational weight gain, lower breast-feeding duration, and increasing parity. On multivariable analysis, maternal obesity was associated with increasing parity in lower income households, but not in higher income households.

Conclusion
Public health interventions that are aimed at decreasing obesity levels after childbirth should prioritize women who are disadvantaged socioeconomically.

Keywords
maternal obesity, parity, postpartum weight

The objective of this paper is to quantify and decompose the socioeconomic gradient in childhood obesity in the Republic of Ireland. The analysis is performed using data from the first wave of the Growing Up in Ireland survey, a nationally representative survey of 8568 nine-year-old children conducted in 2007 and 2008. We estimate concentration indices to quantify the extent of the socioeconomic gradient in childhood obesity and undertake a subsequent decomposition analysis to pinpoint the key factors underpinning the observed inequalities. Overall the results confirm a strong socioeconomic gradient in childhood obesity in the Republic of Ireland. Concentration indices of obesity (CI = −0.168) and overweight/obese (CI = −0.057) show that the gradient is more pronounced in obese children, while results from the decomposition analysis suggest that the majority of the inequality in childhood obesity is explained by parental level variables. Our findings suggest that addressing childhood obesity inequalities requires coordinated policy responses at both the child and parental level.

In this paper we make use of the first and second waves of the 2008 and 1998 cohorts of the Growing Up in Ireland study, to develop a multidimensional and dynamic approach to understanding the impact on families and children in Ireland of the Great Recession. Economic vulnerability is operationalised as involving a distinctive risk profile in relation to relative income, household joblessness and economic stress. We find that the recession was associated with a significant increase in levels of economic vulnerability and changing risk profiles involving a more prominent role for economic stress for both the 2008 and 1998 cohorts. The factors affecting vulnerability outcomes were broadly similar for both cohorts. Persistent economic vulnerability was significantly associated with lone parenthood, particularly for those with more than one child, lower levels of primary care giver (PCG) education and, to a lesser extent, younger age of PCG at child’s birth, number of children and a parent leaving or dying. Similar factors were associated with transient vulnerability in the first wave but the magnitude of the effects was significantly weaker particularly in relation to lone parenthood and level of education of the PCG. For entry into vulnerability the impact of these factors was again substantially weaker than for persistent and transient vulnerability indicating a significantly greater degree of socioeconomic heterogeneity among the group that became vulnerable during the recession. The findings raise policy and political problems that go beyond those associated with catering for groups that have tended to be characterized by high dependence on social welfare.

In  this  paper  we  make  use  of  the  first  and  second  waves  of  the 2008  and 1998  cohorts  of  the  Growing  Up  in  Ireland  study,  to  develop  a  multidimensional  and  dynamic  approach  to understanding the impact on families and children in Ireland of the Great Recession. Economic vulnerability is operationalised as involving a distinctive risk profile in relation to relative income, household  joblessness  and  economic  stress.  We  find  that  the  recession  was  associated  with  a  significant increase in levels of economic vulnerability and changing risk profiles involving a more prominent  role  for  economic  stress  for  both  the  2008  and  1998  cohorts.  The  factors  affecting  vulnerability outcomes were broadly similar for both cohorts. Persistent economic vulnerability was  significantly  associated  with  lone  parenthood,  particularly  for  those  with  more  than  one  child, lower levels of primary care giver (PCG) education and, to a lesser extent, younger age of PCG  at  child’s  birth,  number  of  children  and  a  parent  leaving  or  dying.  Similar  factors  were  associated  with  transient  vulnerability  in  the  first  wave  but  the  magnitude  of  the  effects  was significantly weaker particularly in relation to lone parenthood and level of education of the PCG. For entry into vulnerability the impact of these factors was again substantially weaker than for persistent and transient vulnerability indicating a significantly greater degree of socioeconomic heterogeneity among the group that became vulnerable during the recession. The findings raise policy and political problems that go beyond those associated with catering for groups that have tended to be characterized by high dependence on social welfare.

None of the many critical moments in Ireland’s often tumultuous history was more significant or defining than the Easter Rising of 1916. Central to the Rising was the Proclamation of Independence, in which Pádraig Pearse declared the new nation’s resolve to cherish all its children equally. CHERISHING ALL THE CHILDREN EQUALLY? brings together contributions from a range of disciplines to shed light on the processes of child development and to investigate how that development is influenced by a variety of demographic, family and socio-economic factors. Making extensive use of research and data that have emerged over recent years from the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study of children, the book considers whether or not all children can participate fully and equitably in contemporary Irish society. It asks whether or not we do, in fact, cherish all our children equally in modern Ireland, regardless of their family circumstances, health or ethnic background.

TABLES OF CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. Changing Perceptions and Experiences of Childhood, 1916-2016
3. Children and Families, Then & Now
4. Is Family Structure a Source of Inequality in Children’s Lives?
5. Parental Investment & Child Development
6. Inequalities in Access to Early Care and Education in Ireland
7. Inequalities from the Start? Children’s Integration into Primary School
8. Insights into the Prevalence of Special Educational Needs
9. The Experiences of Migrant Children in Ireland
10. Social Variation in Child Health & Development: A Life-course Approach
11. Child Access to GP Services in Ireland: Do User Fees Matter?
12. Anti-Social Behaviour at Age 13
13. Child Economic Vulnerability Dynamics in the Recession
14. Concluding Observations

In this paper we make use of the 9-year-old wave of the Growing Up in Ireland study to analyse multidimensional deprivation in Ireland. The Alkire and Foster adjusted headcount ratio approach (AHR; Alkire and Foster, Journal of Public Economics, 95, 476–487, 2011a, Journal of Economic Inequality, 9, 289–314, 2011b) applied here constitutes a significant improvement on union and intersection approaches and allows for the decomposition of multidimensional poverty in terms of dimensions and sub-groups. The approach involves a censoring of data such that deprivations count only for those above the specified multidimensional threshold leading to a stronger set of interrelationships between deprivation dimensions. Our analysis shows that the composition of the adjusted headcount ratio is influenced by a range of socio-economic factors. For less favoured socio-economic groups dimensions relating to material deprivation are disproportionately represented while for the more advantaged groups, those relating to behavioral and emotional issues and social interaction play a greater role. Notwithstanding such variation in composition, our analysis showed that the AHCR varied systematically across categories of household type, and the social class, education and age group of the Primary Caregiver. Furthermore, these variables combined in a cumulative manner. The most systematic variation was in relation to the headcount of those above the multidimensional threshold rather than intensity, conditional on being above that cut-off point. Without seeking to arbitrate on the relative value of composite indices versus disaggregated profiles, our analysis demonstrates that there is much to be gained from adopting an approach with clearly understood axiomatic properties. Doing so allows one to evaluate the consequences of the measurement strategy employed for the understanding of levels of multidimensional deprivation, the nature of such deprivation profiles and socioeconomic risk patterns. Ultimately it permits an informed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the particular choices made.

None of the many critical moments in Ireland’s often tumultuous history was more significant or defining than the Easter Rising of 1916. Central to the Rising was the Proclamation of Independence, in which Pádraig Pearse declared the new nation’s resolve to cherish all its children equally. CHERISHING ALL THE CHILDREN EQUALLY? brings together contributions from a range of disciplines to shed light on the processes of child development and to investigate how that development is influenced by a variety of demographic, family and socio-economic factors. Making extensive use of research and data that have emerged over recent years from the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study of children, the book considers whether or not all children can participate fully and equitably in contemporary Irish society. It asks whether or not we do, in fact, cherish all our children equally in modern Ireland, regardless of their family circumstances, health or ethnic background.

TABLES OF CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. Changing Perceptions and Experiences of Childhood, 1916-2016
3. Children and Families, Then & Now
4. Is Family Structure a Source of Inequality in Children’s Lives?
5. Parental Investment & Child Development
6. Inequalities in Access to Early Care and Education in Ireland
7. Inequalities from the Start? Children’s Integration into Primary School
8. Insights into the Prevalence of Special Educational Needs
9. The Experiences of Migrant Children in Ireland
10. Social Variation in Child Health & Development: A Life-course Approach
11. Child Access to GP Services in Ireland: Do User Fees Matter?
12. Anti-Social Behaviour at Age 13
13. Child Economic Vulnerability Dynamics in the Recession
14. Concluding Observations