Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of the Sample and Description of the Variables used
Variable Name | Variable Description | Wave 2 at 3 years old % or Mean (SD) | Wave 3 at 5 years old % or Mean (SD) |
|---|---|---|---|
Child characteristics | |||
Girl | = 1 if child is female; = 0 if male | 49.93% | 49.87% |
Birth weight | Child’s birth weight in grams | 3514 (523) | 3514 (525) |
Gestation age | Child’s gestation age in weeks | 39.57 (1.94) | 39.53 (2.01) |
Breast fed | = 1 if child was breastfed as a baby; =0 if otherwise | 60.45% | 61.59% |
Siblings | = 1 if child has siblings; = 0 if otherwise | 80.41% | 81.66% |
Child good health (as self- reported by the mother) | = 1 if mother states her child’s health is excellent, very good or good; =0 if otherwise | 98.19% | 98.52% |
Mother characteristics | |||
Education | = Primary/ lower secondary education (reference level) | 8.05% | 6.28% |
= Complete secondary | 13.77% | 11.27% | |
= Technical/vocational/non-degree qualification | 36.86% | 42.08% | |
= Degree/postgraduate | 41.32% | 40.38% | |
Obesity status | = 1 if mother is obese (BMI >= 30); = 0 otherwise | 17.32% | 19.18% |
Age | Age of mother (this is the age of the mother in continuous years when the baby was 9 months old; the subsequent waves of GUI data only contained categories for mothers’ age) | 31.84 (5.16) | 32.13 (5.04) |
Mother good health (as self- reported by the mother) | =1 if mother states her health is excellent, very good or good; =0 if otherwise | 93.71% | 95.54% |
Married | = 1 if mother is married or cohabiting; =0 if otherwise | 72.87% | 75.69% |
Working | = 1 if mother is working; = 0 if otherwise | 57.44% | 58.21% |
Irish | = 1 if mother is Irish; = 0 if otherwise | 82.59% | 84.34% |
Healthcare access and utilisation variables | |||
Medical card | = 1 if child is covered by a medical card; 0 if otherwise | 35.60% | 39.71% |
Private health insurance | = 1 if child is covered by private health insurance; 0 if otherwise | 54.13% | 50.68% |
Doctor visits | = number of doctor visits by child in the past year | 2.43 (2.78) | 1.77 (1.94) |
Pediatric visits | = number of visits by child to pediatrician or hospital consultant in the past year | 0.499 (1.16) | 0.426 (0.952) |
Public health nurse visits | = number of public health nurse visits by child in the past year | 0.355 (0.647) | 0.139 (0.424) |
Practice nurse visits | = number of practice nurse visits by child in the past year | 0.129 (0.519) | 0.108 (0.382) |
Hospital nights | = number of nights spent in hospital by child since previous wave of data collection | 0.633 (2.45) | 0.277 (0.966) |
Hous ehold characteristics | |||
Equivalised incomea | Equivalised household income in quintiles | ||
Lowest (base) | 19.01% | 17.45% | |
2nd | 18.32% | 17.94% | |
3rd | 19.81% | 19.88% | |
4th | 20.35% | 21.35% | |
Highest | 22.51% | 23.38% | |
Urban | = 1 if household in urban area; =0 otherwise | 42.72% | 38.55% |
Observations | 7587 | 6417 |