Abstract
Background
Keywords
Findings
Authors
What is already known on this subject?
What does this study add?
Background
Housing conditions have been associated with child health. Inuit children are generally in poorer health than other Canadian children. They are also more likely to live in crowded households, in dwellings that need major repair, and to be exposed to second-hand smoke in the home.
Data and methods
This study uses the 2006 Aboriginal Children’s Survey to examine associations between physical and psychosocial housing characteristics and physical and mental health outcomes of Inuit children aged 2 to 5.
Results
Physical and psychosocial housing characteristics were associated with selected indicators of Inuit children’s health. The presence of a smoker in the home, homeownership, and parental housing satisfaction were associated with specific physical and/or mental health outcomes, even after adjusting for other housing factors and family and child sociodemographic characteristics.
Interpretation
Housing conditions were associated with the physical and mental health of young Inuit children, even when sociodemographic factors were taken into account. Homeownership and housing satisfaction appeared to be particularly important for young Inuit children’s health.
Keywords
affective symptoms, conduct disorder, environmental exposure, indoor air quality, respiratory conditions, tobacco smoke pollution
Findings
Inuit children are generally in poorer health than other children in Canada. This disparity has been associated with socioeconomic and household characteristics, which include housing conditions. [Full Text]
Authors
Dafna Kohen (dafna.kohen@canada.ca), Evelyne Bougie (evelyne.bougie@canada.ca) and Anne Guèvremont (anne.guevremont@canada.ca) are with the Health Analysis Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. Dafna E. Kohen is also with the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.
What is already known on this subject?
- Inuit children are generally in poorer health than other children in Canada.
- Housing conditions are associated with children’s physical and mental health.
- Inuit are more likely than other people in Canada to live in crowded conditions and in dwellings that need major repair.
- The prevalence of daily smoking is higher among Inuit than among other people in Canada.
What does this study add?
- Housing conditions were related to the physical and mental health of Inuit children aged 2 to 5.
- Crowding, housing in need of major repair, and unaffordable housing were no longer associated with Inuit child health when psychosocial housing factors and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were taken into account.
- Exposure to smoke in the home, homeownership, and parental housing satisfaction were associated with Inuit child health, even when the other factors were considered.
- Date modified: