Health lifestyles in early childhood
Open accessAbstract
This study integrates two important developments, the concept of health lifestyles (which has focused on adults and adolescents) and the increased attention to early childhood. We introduce the concept of children’s health lifestyles, identifying differences from adult health lifestyles and articulating intergenerational transmission and socialization processes shaping children’s health lifestyles. Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (2001–2007; N ≈ 6,150), latent class analyses identify predominant health lifestyles among U.S. preschoolers. Five distinct empirical patterns representing health lifestyles emerge, two capturing low and medium levels of overall risk across domains and three capturing domain-specific risks. Social background predicts children’s health lifestyles, but lower household resources often explain these relationships. Across kindergarten measures of cognition, behavior, and health, preschool health lifestyles predict children’s development even after controlling for social disadvantage and concurrent household resources. Further research on health lifestyles throughout childhood is warranted.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
This nascent literature suggests that U.S. children, adolescents, and adults exhibit coherent patterns of behavior consistent with health lifestyles.
“This nascent literature suggests that U.S. children, adolescents, and adults exhibit coherent patterns of behavior, consistent with their conceptualization as health lifestyles.”
From Health lifestyles across the transition to adulthood: implications for health (2017) · cites this paper as Mollborn et al., 2014
Recently, researchers have begun to tie theoretical literature on health lifestyles to empirical examinations of clusters of a wide range of behaviors.
“Recently, researchers have begun to tie the theoretical literature on health lifestyles to empirical examinations of clusters of a wide range of behaviors (Cockerham et al., 2017; Mize, 2017; Mollborn et al., 2014; Saint Onge and Krueger, 2017; Skalamera and Hummer, 2016).”
From Health lifestyles across the transition to adulthood: implications for health (2017) · cites this paper as Mollborn et al., 2014
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste*
Bourdıeu, P. (2018) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315680347-10 · Cited by 20,319 · see citing works
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.
Warner, M., Bourdieu, P., & Nice, R. (1985) · MLN · doi:10.2307/2905454 · Cited by 14,107 · see citing works
Self-rated health and mortality: a review of twenty-seven community studies.
Idler, E. L., & Benyamini, Y. (1997) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2955359 · Cited by 8,598 · see citing works
Social conditions as fundamental causes of disease.
Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. (1995) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2626958 · Cited by 5,722 · see citing works
School readiness and later achievement.
Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., Pagani, L. S., Feinstein, L., Engel, M., Brooks-Gunn, J., et al. (2007) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1428 · Cited by 5,439 · see citing works
Unequal childhoods: class, race, and family life
Lareau, A. P. (2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-4975 · Cited by 4,622 · see citing works
Identity Theory and Social Identity Theory
Stets, J. E., & Burke, P. J. (2000) · Social Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2695870 · Cited by 4,464 · see citing works
Time, Human Agency, and Social Change: Perspectives on the Life Course
Elder, G. H. (1994) · Social Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2786971 · Cited by 2,862 · see citing works
Social Conditions as Fundamental Causes of Disease
Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (1995) · PubMed · doi:10.13016/rpln-eiwa · Cited by 2,684 · see citing works
Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Behaviors
Pampel, F. C., Krueger, P. M., & Denney, J. T. (2010) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.012809.102529 · Cited by 1,860 · see citing works
Blaxter, M. (2003) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203393000 · Cited by 1,098 · see citing works
Health lifestyle theory and the convergence of agency and structure
Cockerham, W. C. (2005) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/002214650504600105 · Cited by 979 · see citing works
The long arm of childhood: The influence of early-life social conditions on men’s mortality
Hayward, M. D., & Gorman, B. K. (2004) · Demography · doi:10.1353/dem.2004.0005 · Cited by 954 · see citing works
Early childhood nutrition and academic achievement: a longitudinal analysis
Glewwe, P. W., Jacoby, H. G., & King, E. M. (2001) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/s0047-2727(00)00118-3 · Cited by 823 · see citing works
Socioeconomic Status and Child Health: Why Is the Relationship Stronger for Older Children?
Currie, J. L., & Stabile, M. (2003) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/000282803322655563 · Cited by 672 · see citing works
Programming by Early Nutrition: An Experimental Approach
Lucas, A. (1998) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/128.2.401s · Cited by 616 · see citing works
Handbook of Medical Sociology.
Gray, B. H., Freeman, H. E., Levine, S., & Reeder, L. G. (1974) · Social Forces · doi:10.2307/2577028 · Cited by 440 · see citing works
Trajectories of functional health: The ‘long arm’ of childhood health and socioeconomic factors
Haas, S. A. (2008) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.11.004 · Cited by 376 · see citing works
Child food insecurity increases risks posed by household food insecurity to young children’s health.
Cook, J. T., Frank, D. A., Levenson, S. M., Neault, N. B., Heeren, T. C., Black, M. M., Berkowitz, C., Casey, P. H., Meyers, A. F., Cutts, D. B., et al. (2006) · The Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/136.4.1073 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Latent Class Analysis of Lifestyle Characteristics and Health Risk Behaviors among College Youth
Laska, M. N., Pasch, K. E., Lust, K. A., Story, M. T., & Ehlinger, E. (2009) · Prevention Science · doi:10.1007/s11121-009-0140-2 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
The health-promoting family: a conceptual framework for future research
Christensen, P. (2003) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.10.021 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
Durbin, D. R., Chen, I., Smith, R. G., Elliott, M. R., & Winston, F. K. (2005) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2004-1522 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Lifestyle risk factors of students: a cluster analytical approach
Dodd, L. J., Al-Nakeeb, Y., Nevill, A., & Forshaw, M. J. (2010) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2010.04.005 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Yount, K. M., DiGirolamo, A. M., & Ramakrishnan, U. (2011) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.02.042 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Wickrama, K. A. S., Conger, R. D., Wallace, L. E., & Elder, G. H. (1999) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2676351 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Healthy behavior trajectories between adolescence and young adulthood
Frech, A. (2012) · Advances in Life Course Research · doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2012.01.003 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Reijneveld, S. A. (1998) · Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.52.5.298 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Seven-year longitudinal study of the early prediction of reading achievement.
Butler, S. R., Marsh, H. W., Sheppard, M. J., & Sheppard, J. L. (1985) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.77.3.349 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Clustering of Health-Related Behaviors among 18-Year-Old Australians
Burke, V., Milligan, R., Beilin, L. J., Dunbar, D., Spencer, M., Balde, E., & Gracey, M. S. (1997) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1006/pmed.1997.0198 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Health Lifestyle Patterns of U.S. Adults
Patterson, R. E., Haines, P. S., & Popkin, B. M. (1994) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1006/pmed.1994.1062 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Measuring health lifestyles in a comparative analysis: Theoretical issues and empirical findings
Abel, T. (1991) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/0277-9536(91)90245-8 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Lifecourse and lifestyle: the social and cultural location of health behaviours
Backett, K. C. (1995) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/0277-9536(94)e0120-h · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Reducing Poverty through Preschool Interventions
Duncan, G. J., Ludwig, J., & Magnuson, K. (2007) · The Future of Children · doi:10.1353/foc.2007.0015 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Understanding childrens' health behaviour: The implications for health promotion for young people
Nutbeam, D., Aar, L., & Catford, J. (1989) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/0277-9536(89)90280-3 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Health and the education of children from racial/ethnic minority and immigrant families.
Crosnoe, R. (2006) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/002214650604700106 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
THE HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE SURVEY
Blaxter, M. (2010) · Taylor & Francis eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203393000_chapter_two · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Lifecourse and lifestyle: The social and cultural location of health behaviours
Backett, K. C., & Davison, C. (1995) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/0277-9536(95)80007-7 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Halonen, A., Aunola, K., Ahonen, T. P. S., & Nurmi, J. (2006) · British Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1348/000709905x51590 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Chronotype is associated with the timing of the circadian clock and sleep in toddlers
Simpkin, C. T., Jenni, O. G., Carskadon, M. A., Wright, K. P., Akacem, L. D., Garlo, K. G., & LeBourgeois, M. K. (2014) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/jsr.12142 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Schuster, T. L., Dobson, M., Jauregui, M., & Blanks, R. H. I. (2004) · The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.1089/107555304323062347 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Sociodemographic determinants of multiple unhealthy behaviours
Laaksonen, M., Prättälä, R., & Lahelma, E. T. (2003) · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1080/14034940210133915 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
The First-Grade Transition in Life Course Perspective
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. (2007) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_11 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Inadequate Sleep and Unintentional Injuries in Young Children
Koulouglioti, C., Cole, R. E., & Kitzman, H. J. (2008) · Public Health Nursing · doi:10.1111/j.1525-1446.2008.00687.x · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Household Smoking Behavior: Effects on Indoor Air Quality and Health of Urban Children with Asthma
Butz, A. M., Breysse, P. N., Rand, C. S., et al. (2010) · Maternal and Child Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10995-010-0606-7 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Risks and Benefits of a Gun in the Home
Hemenway, D. (2011) · American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · doi:10.1177/1559827610396294 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Health lifestyles and the absence of the Russian middle class
Cockerham, W. C. (2007) · Sociology of Health & Illness · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.00492.x · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Dellinger, A. M., & Kresnow, M. (2010) · Journal of Safety Research · doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2010.05.003 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Profiles of Risk: Maternal Health, Socioeconomic Status, and Child Health
Hardie, J. H., & Landale, N. S. (2013) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.1111/jomf.12021 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Relationships among children's health-related behaviors: A multivariate, developmental perspective
Terre, L., Drabman, R. S., & Meydrech, E. F. (1990) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/0091-7435(90)90015-c · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Abella, R., & Heslin, R. (1984) · Basic and Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15324834basp0504_3 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
From Risky Behavior to Health Risk: Continuity Across Two Generations
Genna, N. M. D., Stack, D. M., Serbin, L. A., Ledingham, J. E., & Schwartzman, A. E. (2006) · Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics · doi:10.1097/00004703-200608000-00004 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Relative Benefits of Population-Level Interventions Targeting Restraint-Use in Child Car Passengers
Du, W., Finch, C. F., Hayen, A. D., et al. (2010) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2009-1171 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Health Lifestyles in the United States and Canada: Are We Really So Different? *
Krueger, P. M., Bhaloo, T., & Rosenau, P. V. (2009) · Social Science Quarterly · doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00660.x · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Lin, J., Tung, H., Hsieh, Y., & Lin, F.-G. (2011) · Research in Developmental Disabilities · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.08.011 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Crosnoe, R. L., & Wildsmith, E. (2011) · Applied Developmental Science · doi:10.1080/10888691.2011.587721 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Reducing social inequalities in health: evidence, policy, and practice
Krasnik, A., & Rasmussen, N. K. (2002) · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1177/14034948020300030101 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Predicting Achievement in Grades Three Through Ten Using the Metropolitan Readiness Test
Weller, L. D., Schnittjer, C. J., & Tuten, B. A. (1992) · Journal of Research in Childhood Education · doi:10.1080/02568549209594829 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Dimensions of health‐related lifestyle in young adulthood: results from a national population survey
Stefansdottir, I., & Vilhjálmsson, R. (2007) · Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1471-6712.2007.00479.x · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Health lifestyles and social class in the deep South
Snead, M. C., & Cockerham, W. C. (2005) · Research in the sociology of health care · doi:10.1016/s0275-4959(02)80009-6 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
The revised Helsinki declaration: Good for patients? Good for public health?
Allebeck, P. (2002) · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1177/14034948020300010401 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Project Lifestyle: Developing Positive Health Lifestyles for Schoolchildren in Antigua
Sinha, D. P. (1992) · Journal of School Health · doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.1992.tb01219.x · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Translating Research on Healthy Lifestyles for Children: Meeting the Needs of Diverse Populations
Kennedy, C., & Keeton, V. F. (2008) · Nursing Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.cnur.2008.04.001 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Installation of safety devices reduces the risk of home injury in children
King, W. J. (2011) · Evidence-Based Nursing · doi:10.1136/ebn.2011.100151 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Sobel Michael E. 1981 Lifestyle and Social Structure: Concept, Definitions, Analyses. New York: Academic Press.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Health lifestyles across the transition to adulthood: implications for health
Lawrence, E. M., Mollborn, S., & Hummer, R. A. (2017) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.09.041 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
“Recently, researchers have begun to tie the theoretical literature on health lifestyles to empirical examinations of clusters of a wide range of behaviors (Cockerham et al., 2017; Mize, 2017; Mollborn et al., 2014; Saint Onge and Krueger, 2017; Skalamera and Hummer, 2016).”
BackgroundSelf-citation
- Authors
- Mollborn, S., James-Hawkins, L., Lawrence, E., & Fomby, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mollborn, Stefanie
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-11-19
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 386-402
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6000
- PMC
- PMC6662652
- OpenAlex
- W2039055839
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 63
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 3.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Open Access at Essex (University of Essex) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD066613, R24HD066613)
- CU Population Center, University of Colorado Boulder
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Child and Adolescent Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Lifestyle Studies
- Keywords
- early childhood, preschool children, intergenerational transmission, socialization, health risk behaviors, social background, household resources, social deprivation, cognitive development, child behavior, child health, latent class analysis
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Infant, Interviews as Topic, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Parents, Social Class, Social Support, Socialization, United States, Health Behavior, Linear Models, Intergenerational Relations
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
