Socioeconomic differences in health and well-being of children and adolescents in Iceland

Study objective: To assess differences in health, healthcare use and well-b eing of children according to their socioeconomic situation. Design: Part o f a larger cross-sectional survey on health and well-being of children and their parents in the Nordic countries. Setting: Iceland. Participants: A qu estionnaire was sent to the parents of a nationally representative sample o f 3,007 school children aged two to seventeen years. Main results: The SES indicators used were education and occupation of both parents and the dispo sable income of the family. Logistic regression models were used for the an alysis. Children of lower SES were found to have worse health and well-bein g than those of higher SES. Children of lower SES appeared to use doctor's services to the same degree as children of higher SES, especially after dif ferences in ill health were taken into account. Conclusion: The association between SES and health status and well-being in adulthood can already be d etected in childhood, even in an egalitarian country with a homogeneous pop ulation.