背景:尽管人们一直担心独生子女相对于有兄弟姐妹的个人的劣势,现有的健康相关证据不一致。来自北欧国家的最新证据表明,只有健康状况较差的儿童可能不适用于其他地方,因为选择过程因情况而异。我们调查了英国独生子女的中年健康状况,其中独生子女家庭相对于大家庭往往具有社会经济优势。
方法:使用1946、1958和1970年的英国出生队列研究,当受访者年龄在40岁左右时,我们通过同胞大小检查了各种生物标志物和慢性疾病的自我报告指标,50年代中期和60年代中期。我们为每个队列估计单独的线性概率模型,年龄和结果,适应童年和成年早期的情况。
结果:我们没有发现证据表明独生子女与有子女的孩子不同,两个或三个或更多的兄弟姐妹,在任何年龄,在任何队列中,关于:心脏问题,高血压,高甘油三酯,高糖化血红蛋白或高C反应蛋白。然而,与独生子女相比,在有3个或3个以上兄弟姐妹的患者中,癌症(0.019,95%置信区间[CI]:0.002,0.035;年龄46/1970)和一般健康状况不良(0.060,CI:0.015,0.127;年龄55/1958;和0.110,CI:0.052,0.168;年龄63/1946)的概率较高.
结论:在英国不同年龄或群体的中年慢性疾病结局中,只有儿童健康不利的情况没有一致的模式。研究应侧重于更好地理解同胞大小差异如何取决于上下文。
BACKGROUND: Despite persistent concerns about only children\'s disadvantage relative to individuals with siblings, existing health-related evidence is inconsistent. Recent evidence from Nordic countries about only children having poorer health outcomes may not apply elsewhere because selection processes differ across contexts. We investigate the midlife health of only children in the UK where one-child families tend to be socio-economically advantaged relative to large families.
METHODS: Using the 1946, 1958 and 1970 British birth cohort studies, we examine various biomarkers and self-reported measures of chronic disease by sibship size when respondents are aged in their mid-40s, mid-50s and mid-60s. We estimate separate linear probability models for each cohort, age and outcome, adjusting for childhood and early adulthood circumstances.
RESULTS: We found no evidence of only children differing from those with one, two or three or more siblings, at any age, in any of the cohorts, on: heart problems, hypertension, high triglycerides, high glycated haemoglobin or high C-reactive protein. However, compared with only children, the probability for cancer (0.019, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.002, 0.035; age 46/1970) and poor general health (0.060, CI: 0.015, 0.127; age 55/1958; and 0.110, CI: 0.052, 0.168; age 63/1946) was higher among those with three or more siblings.
CONCLUSIONS: There is no consistent pattern of only child health disadvantage for midlife chronic disease outcomes across ages or cohorts in the UK. Research should focus on better understanding how sibship size differentials are contingent on context.