March research highlights

A round-up of selected journal papers and other research published in March using CLS study data.

Higher family income is associated with fewer child behavioural problems

Research using the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) has investigated the relationship between family income and maternal psychological distress and children’s mental health and behaviour at age 11. The study, published in SSM- Population Health, was carried out by researchers based at the University of Oxford. They found that, on average, lower family income and maternal psychological distress is associated with greater child behavioural problems. Read more

Maternal education and risk of obesity at age 7

Research published in Pediatric Obesity has looked at the link between maternal education and levels of overweight and obesity in 7-year-olds. The paper, from researchers based at Edge Hill University, used data from the MCS age 7 survey. The researchers found that the children of less educated mothers were at greatest risk of being overweight and obese. The researchers also looked at the associations between living in a deprived neighbourhood and childhood obesity. Although they found that children living in the most deprived neighbourhoods tended to exercise more regularly than their more advantaged peers, they were still more likely to be overweight or obese. Read more

Are there more same-sex than opposite-sex twins?

A new paper published in Human Reproduction, has compared the rates of same-sex (SS) vs opposite sex (OS) twins in the UK and US. The researchers, based at the London School of Economics and California State University, analysed data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the USA.  Although previous literature has suggested that there should be an equal amount of SS and OS twins, the research team found that there are significantly more SS than OS pairs among twins in both the UK and the USA. This suggests that there may be a genetic advantage for the survival of SS twins. Read more

The relationship between childhood obesity and adult household income

A new paper published by Preventative Medicine has examined the relationship between adolescent obesity and future household income, employment, and marriage. The paper, authored by researchers based at two Australian institutions, Monash University and Deakin University, looked at data from NCDS, from the birth sweep to age 50. The study found that obesity in adolescence is linked with lower likelihood of marriage and lower household income. These findings had a particularly strong association for obese adolescent girls, who were most likely to have lower household incomes across adulthood. Read more