[The role of social inequality for adolescent health].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to investigate socioeconomic differences in adolescent health in Germany.


METHODS
Findings are based on data from 5650 11- to 15-year-old German pupils participating in the cross-national study "Health Behaviour in School-age Children" in 2002.


RESULTS
Extend and occurrence of health inequalities depended largely on the selected health out comes. Moreover, there were marked gender-specific differences in respect of socioeconomic differences in health. For both, boys and girls, results showed a strong effect of socioeconomic status (parental occupation and family affluence) on overweight. Allergies yielded comparable results in respect of socioeconomic differences. On the other hand, social inequalities had an influence on psychological health mainly in girls. This effect was found for the number as well as for the extent of socioeconomic health differences. No health inequalities were found in respect of injuries, life satisfaction and underweight, independent of gender.


CONCLUSIONS
The influence of social inequalities on adolescents' health was considerably more complex and more stratified than expected. The analysis indicates that the special characteristics of adolescence need to be taken into account in the discussion of social inequalities in health. The fact that young people's health is probably less influenced by social inequality then it is during other parts of the life course points attention to adolescence as an important stage for preventive efforts.
Richter
M
M
Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld. matthias.richter@uni-bielefeld.de
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D009790:Occupations; D016017:Odds Ratio; D050177:Overweight; D010290:Parents; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders; D012737:Sex Factors; D012935:Social Justice; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors