Community resources and determinants of the future health of Manitobans.
BACKGROUND
Life history studies in health show that some of the key determinants of health inequalities lie in biological and social experiences at the earliest times of life. The objectives of this research were to describe the regional distribution of childhood determinants of adult health, such as school achievement, and the environments which contribute to their development.


METHODS
Using Manitoba data from the National Population Health Survey, the National Longitudinal Survey on Children and Youth, the Department of Education, Training and Youth, the Department of Family Services and Housing, the Library Association website and the Agriculture and Food website, the regional distribution of Grade 3 standards test scores and neighbourhood resources such as child care services, libraries, sports participation and food costs were determined for 12 Regional Health Authorities and 12 Winnipeg Community Areas, ranked by a measure of population healthiness, the premature mortality rate. Findings were also reported by income level and larger geographic regions.


RESULTS
Children living in neighbourhoods with less healthy populations were more likely to have poorer school performance, as indicated by Grade 3 math standards test scores. They were-also more likely to change schools, less likely to participate in sports, and had decreased access to affordable food and licenced day care. They had similar access to library books as children living in more healthy neighbourhoods, although book lending rates were not measured.


CONCLUSIONS
We documented regional variation in the availability of resources to support healthy childhood development.
Kozyrskyj
Anita L
AL
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB. Anita_Kozyrskyj@cpe.umanitoba.ca
Fergusson
Patricia
P
Bodnarchuk
Jennifer
J
Brownell
Marni
M
Burchill
Charles
C
Mayer
Teresa
T
D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006295:Health Resources / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008350:Manitoba / Q000453:epidemiology; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012040:Regional Health Planning; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000145:classification*; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors