Does Caregiver%26apos;s Social Bonding Enhance the Health of their Children?: The Association between Social Capital and Child Behaviors

作者：Fujiwara Takeo^*; Takao Soshi; Iwase Toshihide; Hamada Jun; Kawachi Ichiro

来源：Acta Medica Okayama, 2012, 66(4): 343-350.

• tooth brushing
• child health
• social capital
• skipping breakfast
• watching TV

Little is known about the association between social capital and child behaviors. This study aims to investigate that association. A complete population-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted for all the caregivers with preschool children in a rural town in Okayama prefecture in Japan. Two dimensions of individual-level social capital and unhealthy child behaviors were reported by parent-administered questionnaire. We analyzed 354 preschool children (57.6% of all children for whom questionnaires were completed). Children whose main caregiver had high cognitive social capital were 89% less likely to miss breakfast (odds ratio [OR] = 0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01-1.03). Children whose caregiver had high structural social capital were 71% less likely to wake up late (OR = 0.29; 95% CI: 0.12-0.71) and 78% less likely to skip tooth brushing more than once per day (OR = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.05-0.93). Both cognitive and structural social capital were negatively associated with unhealthy child behaviors. A further intervention study is needed to confirm the impact of social capital on child behavior.

• 出版日期2012-8