Health implications of environmental and social resources for preadolescents in urban China

Using a stratified random sample of 1307 sixth grade primary school children and their parents in Shenzhen, China, this paper examined the association between a child's self-rated health (SRH) and economic, environmental and social resources accessible from his/her home, neighborhood, and school. As parents value access to quality primary schools in making housing choices, both an aggregated (by school) and individual (by child) approaches were adopted in analysis. It was found a child's SRH was positively associated with his/her perceived neighborhood safety aggregated at a school level, perceived school safety higher than average, engagement in discussion with parents and activities with friends, and self-reported happiness, but negatively associated with perceived neighborhood environmental hazards. The analysis suggests environmental and social factors in neighborhoods and schools are forces equalizing child subjective health and thus a community health approach deserves attention from policy-makers.