| 1. |
- Daoud, Adel, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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IMF fairness: Calibrating the policies of the International Monetary Fund based on distributive justice
- 2022
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Ingår i: World Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 0305-750X .- 1873-5991. ; 157
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provides financial assistance to its member countries in economic difficulties but at the same time requires these countries to reform public policies. In several contexts, these reforms have been at odds with population health and material living standards. While researchers have empirically analyzed the consequences of IMF reforms on health, no analysis has yet identified under what conditions tradeoffs between consequences for populations and economic outcomes would be fair and acceptable. Our article analyzes and identifies five principles to govern such tradeoffs and thus define IMF fairness. The article first reviews existing policy-evaluation studies, which on balance show that IMF policies, in their pursuit of macroeconomic improvement, frequently produce adverse effects on children's health and material living standards. Secondly, the article discusses four theories from distributive ethics—maximization, egalitarianism, prioritarianism, and sufficientarianism—to identify which is most compatible with the IMF's core mission of improving macroeconomic conditions, while at the same time balancing the consequences for population outcomes. Using a distributive justice analysis of IMF policies, we argue that sufficientarianism constitutes the most compatible theory. Thirdly, the article formalizes IMF fairness in the language of causal inference. It also supplies a framework for empirically measuring the extent to which IMF policies fulfill the criteria of IMF fairness, using observational data.
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| 2. |
- Pascual, Unai, et al.
(författare)
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Valuing nature's contributions to people : the IPBES approach
- 2017
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Ingår i: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-3435. ; 26-27, s. 7-16
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nature is perceived and valued in starkly different and often conflicting ways. This paper presents the rationale for the inclusive valuation of nature's contributions to people (NCP) in decision making, as well as broad methodological steps for doing so. While developed within the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), this approach is more widely applicable to initiatives at the knowledge–policy interface, which require a pluralistic approach to recognizing the diversity of values. We argue that transformative practices aiming at sustainable futures would benefit from embracing such diversity, which require recognizing and addressing power relationships across stakeholder groups that hold different values on human nature-relations and NCP.
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| 3. |
- Subramanian, S. V., et al.
(författare)
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Geo-mapping of COVID-19 Risk Correlates Across Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies in India
- 2020
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Ingår i: Harvard Data Science Review. - 2644-2353.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the current stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, as countries open up after an extended period of lockdown, it is important to assure the population that their health is not being sacrificed. In this article, we develop a geomapping approach to identify high-risk areas by considering four nonclinical risk correlates for COVID-19. These are population density, percentage of the population that is exposed to crowding in a household, percentage of the population without access to handwashing facilities, and percentage of the population over 65 years of age. We provide an empirical proof-of-concept demonstration for this approach for India at two critical geographic units: districts and parliamentary constituencies, collectively responsible for policy administration and governance. Our findings suggest that the geographies of the four nonclinical risk correlates are largely independent of one another (i.e., at most, there is a small correlation between measures). We avoid applying differential weights to the four measures or combining these measures into a single index, as there is an intrinsic rationale for viewing them separately since they represent mostly independent dimensions of risks that require different responses. Our primary objective was to leverage currently available data to provide decision makers detailed information and geovisualization, identifying areas with potentially differential susceptibilities to COVID-19. The information provided here can be used as a means for further ground verification and, when appropriate, for impact planning and intervention, as well as providing a rationale for eventual efficacy assessment of different nonpharmaceutical interventions. While this exercise is primarily descriptive at this stage, the estimates generated are new, rigorous, and have high relevance for timely policy discussions. We use data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, which have extensive geographic coverage and high level of standardizations, making our highly accessible approach easy to extend to other low- and middle-income countries. We share this conceptualization of geomapping, and all the data and codes used for this exercise, to encourage wider applications and advancements.
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| 4. |
- Andersson, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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Explorations of neighbourhood and educational outcomes for young Swedes
- 2006
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Ingår i: Urban Studies. - : SAGE Publications. - 0042-0980 .- 1360-063X. ; 43:11, s. 2013-2025
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of neighbourhoods on educational outcome for adolescents in Sweden. Using a multilevel statistical approach and the PLACE database that consists of a census of individuals in 1990-2000 in Sweden, the paper explores different domains of neighbourhood characteristics that predict educational outcomes in adolescents. Educational achievement in year 2000 was measured for three cohorts, geocoded to their neighbourhood environments. It was found that neighbourhood characteristics related to socioeconomic resources and demographic stability are predictors of individual educational outcomes. A strong association between neighbourhood socio-cultural capital variables and education were also observed. Despite national policies on availability and access to education in Sweden, there are substantial inequalities in educational outcomes that are not simply a result of differences in individual characteristics.
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| 5. |
- Karlsson, Omar, et al.
(författare)
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Estimating heritability of height without zygosity information for twins under five years in low- and middle-income countries : An application of normal finite mixture distribution models
- 2022
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Ingår i: SSM - Population Health. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-8273. ; 17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Twin studies are widely used to estimate heritability of traits and typically rely on knowing the zygosity of twin pairs in order to determine variation attributable to genetics. Most twin studies are conducted in high resource settings. Large scale household survey data, such as the Demographic and Health Surveys, collect various biomarkers for children under five years old in low- and middle-income countries. These data include twins but no information on zygosity. We applied mixture models to obtain heritability estimates without knowing zygosity of twins, using 249 Demographic and Health Surveys from 79 low- and middle-income countries (14,524 twin pairs). We focused on height of children, adjusted for age and sex, but also provided estimates for other biomarkers available in the data. We estimated that the heritability of height in our sample was 46%.
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| 6. |
- Karlsson, Omar, et al.
(författare)
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Patterns in child stunting by age : A cross-sectional study of 94 low- and middle-income countries
- 2023
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Ingår i: Maternal and Child Nutrition. - 1740-8709. ; 19:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Child stunting prevalence is primarily used as an indicator of impeded physical growth due to undernutrition and infections, which also increases the risk of mortality, morbidity and cognitive problems, particularly when occurring during the 1000 days from conception to age 2 years. This paper estimated the relationship between stunting prevalence and age for children 0-59 months old in 94 low- and middle-income countries. The overall stunting prevalence was 32%. We found higher stunting prevalence among older children until around 28 months of age-presumably from longer exposure times and accumulation of adverse exposures to undernutrition and infections. In most countries, the stunting prevalence was lower for older children after around 28 months-presumably mostly due to further adverse exposures being less detrimental for older children, and catch-up growth. The age for which stunting prevalence was the highest was fairly consistent across countries. Stunting prevalence and gradient of the rise in stunting prevalence by age varied across world regions, countries, living standards and sex. Poorer countries and households had a higher prevalence at all ages and a sharper positive age gradient before age 2. Boys had higher stunting prevalence but had peak stunting prevalence at lower ages than girls. Stunting prevalence was similar for boys and girls after around age 45 months. These results suggest that programmes to prevent undernutrition and infections should focus on younger children to optimise impact in reducing stunting prevalence. Importantly, however, since some catch-up growth may be achieved after age 2, screening around this time can be beneficial.
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| 7. |
- Karlsson, Omar, et al.
(författare)
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Prevalence of Children Aged 6 to 23 Months Who Did Not Consume Animal Milk, Formula, or Solid or Semisolid Food During the Last 24 Hours Across Low- and Middle-Income Countries
- 2024
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Ingår i: JAMA Network Open. - 2574-3805. ; 7:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- IMPORTANCE: The introduction of solid or semisolid foods alongside breast milk plays a vital role in meeting nutritional requirements during early childhood, which is crucial for child growth and development. Understanding the prevalence of zero-food children (defined for research purposes as children aged 6 to 23 months who did not consume animal milk, formula, or solid or semisolid food during the last 24 hours) is essential for targeted interventions to improve feeding practices.OBJECTIVE: To estimate the percentage of zero-food children in 92 low- and middle-income countries.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study analyzed nationally representative cross-sectional household data of children aged 6 to 23 months from the Demographic and Health Surveys and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys conducted between May 20, 2010, and January 27, 2022. Data were obtained from 92 low- and middle-income countries. Standardized procedures were followed to ensure data comparability and reliability. Both percentage and number of zero-food children were estimated.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The outcome studied was defined as a binary variable indicating children aged 6 to 23 months who had not been fed any animal milk, formula, or solid or semisolid foods during the 24 hours before each survey, as reported by the mother or caretaker.RESULTS: A sample of 276 379 children aged 6 to 23 months (mean age, 14.2 months [95% CI, 14.15-14.26 months]) in 92 low- and middle-income countries was obtained, of whom 51.4% (95% CI, 51.1%-51.8%) were boys. The estimated percentage of zero-food children was 10.4% (95% CI, 10.1%-10.7%) in the pooled sample, ranging from 0.1% (95% CI, 0%-0.6%) in Costa Rica to 21.8% (95% CI, 19.3%-24.4%) in Guinea. The prevalence of zero-food children was particularly high in West and Central Africa, where the overall prevalence was 10.5% (95% CI, 10.1%-11.0%), and in India, where the prevalence was 19.3% (95% CI, 18.9%-19.8%). India accounted for almost half of zero-food children in this study.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cross-sectional study of 276 379 children aged 6 to 23 months, substantial disparities in the estimates of food consumption across 92 low- and middle-income countries were found. The prevalence of zero-food children underscores the need for targeted interventions to improve infant and young child feeding practices and ensure optimal nutrition during this critical period of development. The issue is particularly urgent in West and Central Africa and India.
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| 8. |
- Malmberg, Bo, et al.
(författare)
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Links between ill health and regional economic performance : Evidence from Swedish longitudinal data
- 2010
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Ingår i: Environment and planning A. - : SAGE Publications. - 0308-518X .- 1472-3409. ; 42:5, s. 1210-1220
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While poor health has been associated with economic outcomes at the national level, its effect on economic outcomes at the individual and local level remains less well known. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from Sweden, we examined the extent to which an individual’s poor health leads to poor economic outcomes for that individual. In order to understand the effects of poor health at a regional level, we also examined the spillover effects of the individual’s poor health on the economic outcomes of the people linked to the individual. We report an association between an individual’s poor health and both that individual’s subsequent adverse economic outcomes and adverse economic outcomes of the individual’s network. Our study highlights the importance of the association between health and economic well-being as well as potential adverse spillover effects of poor health on local economies.
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| 9. |
- Mulinari, Shai, et al.
(författare)
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Categorical and anti-categorical approaches to US racial/ethnic groupings: revisiting the National 2009 H1N1 Flu Survey (NHFS)
- 2018
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Ingår i: Critical Public Health. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0958-1596 .- 1469-3682. ; 28:2, s. 177-189
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intersectionality theory calls for the understanding of race/ ethnicity, sex/ gender and class as interlinked. Intersectional analysis can contribute to public health both through furthering understanding of power dynamics causing health disparities, and by pointing to heterogeneities within, and overlap between, social groups. The latter places the usefulness of social categories in public health under scrutiny. Drawing on McCall we relate the first approach to categorical and the second to anti-categorical intersectionality. Here, we juxtapose the categorical approach with traditional between-group risk calculations (e.g. odds ratios) and the anticategorical approach with the statistical concept of discriminatory accuracy (DA), which is routinely used to evaluate disease markers in epidemiology. To demonstrate the salience of this distinction, we use the example of racial/ ethnic identification and its value for predicting influenza vaccine uptake compared to other conceivable ways of organizing attention to social differentiation. We analyzed data on 56,434 adults who responded to the NHFS. We performed logistic regressions to estimate odds ratios and computed the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AU-ROC) to measure DA. Above age, the most informative variables were education and household poverty status, with race/ ethnicity providing minor additional information. Our results show that the practical value of standard racial/ ethnic categories for making inferences about vaccination status is questionable, because of the high degree of outcome variability within, and overlap between, categories. We argue that, reminiscent of potential tension between categorical and anti-categorical perspectives, between-group risk should be placed and understood in relationship to measures of DA, to avoid the lure of misguided individual-level interventions.
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| 10. |
- Persmark, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Intersectional inequalities and the U.S. opioid crisis : challenging dominant narratives and revealing heterogeneities
- 2019
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Ingår i: Critical Public Health. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0958-1596 .- 1469-3682. ; 30:4, s. 398-414
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dominant narratives of prescription opioid misuse (POM) in the U.S. have portrayed it as an issue primarily affecting White communities. In this study we explore POM as reported in data from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, using an intersectional multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA). We map the risk of POM through a series of multilevel models with individuals (N = 43,409) nested within strata formed by the intersections of gender, race/ethnicity, income, and age. We find meaningful heterogeneity between and within strata. The ten strata with the greatest risk for POM were comprised of individuals identifying as White, African American, and non-White Hispanic, and included individuals of low, medium, and high income. We uncover intersections of social position with high risk for POM that are often excluded from dominant narratives, including young high-income African American women. Intersectional approaches are essential for advancing our understanding of health inequalities and unfolding epidemics such as that of POM in the U.S.
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