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Lifelong Socio-economic Position and Later Life Health Related Behaviour: A Formal Mediation Approach

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Pathways to Health

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Population Studies ((BRIEFSPOPULAT))

Abstract

Population ageing is one of the dominant trends of the 21st century. As morbidity and disability are concentrated in the older population, interventions to promote healthy ageing are needed in order to offset the effects that ageing will have on population health. Health related behaviour is a focal area for possible interventions since its association with various health outcomes is well documented. We used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, with a formal approach for the identification of mediating factors, in order to investigate the lifecourse socio-economic patterning of smoking, physical activity, dietary habits and alcohol use in later life. We found socio-economic gradients in smoking, physical activity and alcohol use, but fewer in healthy dietary habits. Both early and later life socio-economic circumstances influenced health related behaviour, but these associations differed between men and women as well as between age groups. We found that early life circumstances influence behaviour either directly or indirectly 65 years later. The complexity of the observed associations highlights the need for further research on the mechanisms underlying links between socio-economic position and later life health related behaviour.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK

    George B. Ploubidis

  2. Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium

    Lenka Benova

  3. GOS Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK

    Bianca De Stavola

  4. Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Emily Grundy

Authors
  1. George B. Ploubidis
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  2. Lenka Benova
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  3. Bianca De Stavola
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  4. Emily Grundy
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Correspondence to George B. Ploubidis .

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Ploubidis, G.B., Benova, L., De Stavola, B., Grundy, E. (2019). Lifelong Socio-economic Position and Later Life Health Related Behaviour: A Formal Mediation Approach. In: Pathways to Health. SpringerBriefs in Population Studies. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1707-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1707-4_2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1705-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1707-4

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