The impact of human development on individual health: a causal mediation analysis examining pathways through education and body mass index.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The macro environment we live in projects what we can achieve and how we behave, and in turn, shapes our health in complex ways. Policymaking will benefit from insights into the mechanisms underlying how national socioeconomic context affects health. This study examined the impact of human development on individual health and the possible mediating roles of education and body mass index (BMI).

Methods

We analyzed World Health Survey data on 109,448 participants aged 25 or older from 42 low- and middle-income countries with augmented human development index (HDI) in 1990. We used principal components method to create a health score based on measures from eight health state domains, used years of schooling as education indicator and calculated BMI from self-reported

SUBMITTER: Wang A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5335675 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature