Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Sep 19;3(3):17-33.
doi: 10.17886/RKI-GBE-2018-083. eCollection 2018 Sep.

Social inequalities in health of children and adolescents in Germany. Results of the cross-sectional KiGGS Wave 2 study

Benjamin Kuntz  1 , Petra Rattay  1 , Christina Poethko-Müller  1 , Roma Thamm  1 , Heike Hölling  1 , Thomas Lampert  1
Affiliations

Social inequalities in health of children and adolescents in Germany. Results of the cross-sectional KiGGS Wave 2 study

Benjamin Kuntz et al. J Health Monit. .

Abstract

The close link between socioeconomic status (SES) and health can already be observed in childhood and adolescence. Although the vast majority of children and adolescents grow up healthily in Germany, social inequalities in health exist. The results of the second wave of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS Wave 2) demonstrate that children and adolescents with a low SES have a poorer level of general health and face health constraints more frequently than their peers with a higher SES. Social inequalities in mental health are significantly more profound than in the 12-month prevalence of bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis. The odds of being affected by mental health problems or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were 2.8 to 4.4 times higher for children and adolescents with a low SES compared to their peers with a high SES. Therefore, in order to enable all children and adolescents to grow up healthily, health promotion and disease prevention measures need to be put in place early in a child's life and need to be tailored to the needs of particular target groups.

Keywords: HEALTH MONITORING; KIGGS; MENTAL HEALTH; PHYSICAL HEALTH; SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The general health of 3- to 17-year-olds according to gender and socioeconomic status (Subjective health n=6,682 girls, n=6,633 boys; Health constraints n=6,654 girls, n=6,582 boys) Source: KiGGS Wave 2 (2014-2017)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Allergic diseases among 3- to 17-year-olds according to gender and socioeconomic status (Bronchial asthma n=6,683 girls, n=6,604 boys; Allergic rhinitis n=6,707 girls, n=6,646 boys) Source: KiGGS Wave 2 (2014-2017)
Figure 3
Figure 3
The mental health of 3- to 17-year-olds according to gender and socioeconomic status (Mental health problems n=6,637 girls, n=6,568 boys; ADHD n=6,678 girls, n=6,621 boys) Source: KiGGS Wave 2 (2014-2017)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Robert Koch-Institut (Ed) (2015) Gesundheit in Deutschland. Gesundheitsberichterstattung des Bundes. Gemeinsam getragen von RKI und Destatis. RKI, Berlin: https://edoc.rki.de/handle/176904/3248 (As at 03.07.2018)
    1. Jordan AR, Micheelis W. (Eds) (2016) Fünfte Deutsche Mundgesundheitsstudie (DMS V). Deutscher Zahnärzteverlag DÄV, Köln
    1. Schlack HG. (2004) Neue Morbidität im Kindesalter – Aufgaben für die Sozialpädiatrie. Kinderärztliche Praxis 75(5):292-299
    1. Lampert T. (2010) Frühe Weichenstellung. Zur Bedeutung der Kindheit und Jugend für die Gesundheit im späteren Leben. Bundesgesundheitsbl 53(5):486-497 - PubMed
    1. Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (2010) Nationales Gesundheitsziel Gesund aufwachsen: Lebenskompetenz, Bewegung, Ernährung. BMG, Berlin

LinkOut - more resources