Table 2 Impact on social determinants, child health outcomes, and on vulnerable population
From: Understanding the impact of the economic crisis on child health: the case of Spain
Indicators | Results (summary) | Potential impact | |
|---|---|---|---|
Determinants of child health | |||
Food insecurity and nutrition | NGO reports and reviews on the use of food banks [29] | Exponential increase on vulnerable families looking for help attending basic food needs | Increased inequalities on the risk of undernutrition, obesity and other related conditions. Great impact on vulnerable families |
Child health outcomes | |||
General health | Comparison of the % of fair/poor perceived health in 2006 and 2012 (NHS) | Improvement of perceived health (11 % poor health in 2006 and 6.8 % in 2012) in population 0–14y. No changes in social inequalities detected | No impact during the period analysed |
Children’s mental health | SDQ administered to parents of a representative sample of children in 2006 and 2012 (NHS) | Improvement of mean total difficulties score of SDQ, remaining similar inequalities by social class; worse mental health in children from unemployed families comparing two cross-sectional surveys | No impact during the period analysed |
Vulnerable population | |||
General health, mental health, health habits | General health, mental health, not having breakfast before leaving home in a group of 177 children attending Caritas [15] | 22.7 % (boys) and 22.9 % (girls) reported poor health (direct emergency attention group) compared to 6.8 and 6.9 % in the general population. SDQ: probable case 61.3 and 37.5 % (boys and girls) vs 9.2 & 7.6 % in the general population. Similar results for not having breaksfast (15.9 & 26.2 % vs 0.1 and 1 %) | A great impact on health, mental health and health behaviours was found in these vulnerable groups |
Access and use of healthcare | |||
The population of children 0–18y theoretically continuous with universal coverage and no barriers to access | There were at least 14 cases of children in which barriers to access were registered. Many unreported cases of fear of parents due to their irregular administrative situation [30] | Great impact on vulnerable children | |