Diet in the first years of life is a key determinant of lifelong disease risk and is highly affected by socioeconomic status (SES). However, the specific relation between SES and food consumption in toddlers and preschoolers is poorly understood. This study assesses SES-related differences in food consumption in 1–5-year-olds in Germany using weighed food records (3+1 days) of a subsample of 887 children from the cross-sectional Children’s Nutrition Survey to Record Food Consumption (KiESEL) undertaken 2014–2017. Children were categorized as having a low, medium, or high SES depending on parental income, education, and occupation. A two-step generalized linear model corrected for age and sex was applied to assess differences in food consumption, using bootstrapping to address unequal group sizes. Differences between SES groups were found for unfavourable foods (and the subgroups sugar-sweetened beverages and confectionary/desserts), fruit, bread/cereals, and fats/oils (pBoot < 0.05). Mean daily consumption in the low SES-group as compared to the high-SES group was 84 g lower for total fruit, 22 g lower for bread/cereals, and 3 g lower for fats/oils, while being 123 g higher for sugar-sweetened beverages and 158 g higher for unfavourable foods in total (based on bootstrap 95 % confidence intervals). In conclusion, this study suggests a social gradient in the diet of German toddlers and preschoolers, with lower SES linked to lower diet quality. To prevent adverse health trajectories, public health measures to improve early life nutrition should address all children, prioritizing those of lower SES.

This study examined how immigrant status and socioeconomic status influence racial self-classification among U.S. Latinx adults aged eighteen and older across multiple nationalities. Using data from the 2010–2018 National Health Interview Survey, we analyzed a nationally representative sample of Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Central/South American adults (N = 41,133) who identified as White, Black, or Another race. Socioeconomic status was measured using a composite index of income-to-poverty ratio, education, employment status, and homeownership. Multinomial logistic regressions and average marginal effects revealed significant heterogeneity in examined predictors of racial identity. U.S.-born Latinx adults, particularly Puerto Ricans and Central/South Americans, had higher probability of identifying as Black compared to recent immigrants. Latinx adults with low and middle socioeconomic status backgrounds were more likely to identify as Black or Another race across most nationality groups. Findings highlight the complexity of Latinx racial identity, whereby Latinxs may experience racialization differently depending on indicators of acculturation and socioeconomic status. The inclusion of multidimensional measures of race, such as skin color and street race, in future research is needed to better understand Latinx racial identity formation. Findings inform interventions to address race-related stress and anti-Blackness, particularly among AfroLatinx populations, and provide considerations for improving race data collection practices, such as those impacted by recent federal policy changes to the U.S. Census.

This study explores the relationships among socioeconomic status (SES), executive function (EF), grammar comprehension (GC), and pragmatic language (PL) in children aged 8–11. By employing a structural equation modelling approach, we aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effects of these variables on PL, a crucial aspect of child development involved in the formation of social relationships and general well-being. Our final sample consisted of 128 children from a heterogeneous socioeconomic context. Participants were assessed using the APL Medea, TROG-2, and TeleFE tests to measure their PL, GC, and EF, respectively. The findings reveal that GC and EF are important predictors of PL, with GC playing an important role in mediating the effects of SES. In conclusion, this study highlights the key role of GC in connecting SES and PL, with strong practical implications for the interventions aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of socioeconomic factors.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a widespread and complex health disorder. Dietary habits and consumption of simple sugars have been shown to play an important role in the prevention and treatment of MetS. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a population of 3380 adults from the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) employees’ health cohort. The healthy beverage index (HBI) and healthy beverage score (HBS) were calculated. Risk for MetS and its components, including blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, waist circumference, triglyceride levels, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, were measured using standardised protocols. Results showed a significant inverse association between higher adherence to HBI (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.48–0.74, P < 0.001) and HBS (OR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65–0.97, P = 0.030) with lower risk of MetS. Also, we observed a significant association between higher level of HBI and HBS with decreased risk of hypertension, as a critical component of MetS. These findings support the notion that healthier beverage consumption, as indicated by higher HBI and HBS levels, may play a critical role in reducing the risk of MetS.

Although family factors are considered important for children’s language acquisition, the evidence comes primarily from affluent societies. Thus, this study aimed to examine the relations between family factors (family’s socioeconomic status [SES], home literacy activities, access to print resources, and parental beliefs) and children’s vocabulary knowledge in both urban and rural settings in China. Data from 366 children (urban group: 109, 4.85 years; rural group: 257, 4.89 years) were collected. Results showed that whereas family’s SES significantly predicted access to print resources and children’s vocabulary knowledge in the rural group, parental beliefs directly predicted children’s vocabulary knowledge in the urban group. Multigroup analysis showed that the associations of family’s SES and access to print resources with children’s vocabulary knowledge were stronger in the rural group than in the urban group. Our findings highlight the importance of considering contextual settings when conceptualising the role of family factors in children’s language acquisition.

Infants’ language is often measured indirectly via parent reports, but mothers may underestimate or overestimate their infants’ word comprehension. The current study examined estimations of mothers from diverse educational backgrounds regarding their infants’ word comprehension and how these estimations are associated with their verbal input and infants’ receptive vocabulary at 14 months. We compared 34 infants’ looking-while-listening (LWL) performances with the mothers’ Turkish Communicative Development Inventory (TCDI) reports to calculate the mothers’ overestimation and underestimation. During free-play sessions, we assessed the mothers’ number of words, number of clauses, lexical diversity, and linguistic complexity. We found that mothers have overestimations and underestimations regardless of their educational background. Crucially, mothers’ only overestimations were positively associated with their number of words and lexical diversity. Mothers’ verbal input was not related to infants’ receptive vocabulary scores. The findings suggest that mothers’ input might be aligned with their estimations of their infants’ language capabilities, which might not reflect the infants’ true performance.

According to the Trivers–Willard hypothesis (TWH), when the mother's condition around conception influences the future reproductive success of male and female offspring differently, the adjustment of offspring sex ratio (SR) to maternal condition will increase the parents’ fitness. The TWH has been tested in several taxa, including humans where socioeconomic status as an index of condition has been widely used. The results are inconsistent, possibly because the preconditions of the TWH are not always met. To investigate the preconditions and prediction of the TWH in the contemporary Hungarian population, we collected data by an online questionnaire on self-perceived childhood living standard, the number of children and the sex of the respondents’ siblings. We found no sex-specific relationship between reproductive success and childhood living standards, thus the precondition of the TWH was not met. We found no relationship between socioeconomic status and offspring SR when data from the whole country was used, but there was a tendency in the predicted direction when we used data from Budapest and considered the SR of only those family members who were born under similar conditions. Similar approaches should be preferred in the future to avoid noise caused by changing status during the reproductive lifespan.

This paper analyzes inequities in the distribution of air pollution in Mexico at the detailed scale of localities. We find that air pollution increases in areas that experience a decline in socioeconomic status. We utilize 15 years of remote sensing data on fine particulate matter (smaller than 2.5 microns) for more than 116,500 localities across Mexico. Our panel data models show that localities that face a decline in socioeconomic status experience a 0.24–0.83 per cent increase in annual mean pollution concentrations. Our results hold up to controlling for changes within each municipality and instrumenting with broader municipality level socioeconomic status to test for ecological fallacy. We find that local air pollution inequities are reduced by political participation channels, but not as much by increased share of manufacturing activities due to polluters locating in poorer neighborhoods. Highly dense, urban municipalities witness higher inequities most likely due to traffic, construction, and agricultural fires.

The Lomas Entierros archaeological site provides a case study of domestic activities in two socioeconomic sectors. Located in Central Pacific Costa Rica, it was a primary center and important node for the exchange of goods throughout the region. In this article, we characterize and compare the domestic and socioeconomic activities at two structures from different sectors of the site through the analysis of micro-remains, chemical residues (phosphates, carbonates, pH, carbohydrates, protein residues, and fatty acids), and starch grains. Our findings show that differences between the two structures were determined both by their function and the socioeconomic status of their occupants. Structure 13, in the elite sector, presents a richer dataset that suggests the cooking of plants and mollusks in the interior of the dwelling. Structure 44, in the intermediate-status sector, has a lower diversity and density of remains, suggesting very low use that may result from its role as a storage space. This article provides a nuanced methodology for the study of domestic spaces in tropical areas.

Prenatal stress has a significant, but small, negative effect on children’s executive function (EF) in middle and high socioeconomic status (SES) households. Importantly, rates and severity of prenatal stress are higher and protective factors are reduced in lower SES households, suggesting prenatal stress may be particularly detrimental for children’s EF in this population. This study examined whether prenatal stress was linked to 5-year-old’s EF in a predominantly low SES sample and child sex moderated this association, as males may be more vulnerable to adverse prenatal experiences. Participants were 132 mother-child dyads drawn from a prospective prenatal cohort. Mothers reported on their depression symptoms, trait anxiety, perceived stress, everyday discrimination, and sleep quality at enrollment and once each trimester, to form a composite prenatal stress measure. Children’s EF was assessed at age 5 years using the parent-report Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Preschool (BRIEF-P) Global Executive Composite subscale and neuropsychological tasks completed by the children. Mixed models revealed higher prenatal stress was associated with lower BRIEF-P scores, indicating better EF, for females only. Higher prenatal stress was associated with lower performance on neuropsychological EF measures for both males and females. Results add to the limited evidence about prenatal stress effects on children’s EF in low SES households.

Black women have come to be seen as a dominant force in American politics—particularly in support of the Democratic party. However, this dominance in the political sphere has not translated to dominance in the economic sphere. Despite Black women’s outperformance of their Black male peers in higher education outcomes and overrepresentation in the labor force, there is still an economic gap between Black women and their male counterparts. In addition, regional differences in cost of living have led to diverging local conditions for Black women as well. What do Black women’s socioeconomic outcomes mean for their political ideology and political preferences? Few studies capture intra-group variation among Black women and how the context in which they live may shape their economic and sociopolitical outlook. Using the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey, we examine how the relationship between Black women’s socioeconomic status and their political beliefs and the relationship between Black women’s socioeconomic status and political preferences are conditioned by region. We capture the individual factors and regional context that shape differences among Black women in their political beliefs and policy attitudes. This research furthers our understanding of differences in Black women’s politics.

This paper combines life course theory and empirical research on the collateral consequences of punishment as a backdrop to exploring the relationship between both the presence of and seriousness of a criminal record measured in early adulthood (age 25) and later life outcomes (ages 41-49), both in total and by socioeconomic status. The analysis relies on a combination of longitudinal survey data and administrative register data for 2,022 individuals who were between 12 and 20 years old when the data collection started. Results show that the criminal record is linked to both labor market and social exclusion later in life, but most systematically to (worse) labor market outcomes. Somewhat surprisingly, low SES seems to “buffer” against some of the unwanted outcomes linked to having a more serious criminal record, while high SES seems to “boost” others. Implications for future research on both deviance and stratification are discussed.

Despite having the same underlying genetic etiology, individuals with the same syndromic form of intellectual developmental disability (IDD) show a large degree of interindividual differences in cognition and IQ. Research indicates that up to 80% of the variation in IQ scores among individuals with syndromic IDDs is attributable to nongenetic effects, including social-environmental factors. In this narrative review, we summarize evidence of the influence that factors related to economic stability (focused on due to its prevalence in existing literature) have on IQ in individuals with syndromic IDDs. We also highlight the pathways through which economic stability is hypothesized to impact cognitive development and drive individual differences in IQ among individuals with syndromic IDDs. We also identify broader social-environmental factors (e.g., social determinants of health) that warrant consideration in future research, but that have not yet been explored in syndromic IDDs. We conclude by making recommendations to address the urgent need for further research into other salient factors associated with heterogeneity in IQ. These recommendations ultimately may shape individual- and community-level interventions and may inform systems-level public policy efforts to promote the cognitive development of and improve the lived experiences of individuals with syndromic IDDs.