The evolution of health outcomes from childhood to adolescence

▶ Using data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), we examine how and why health outcomes exhibit persistence during the period from childhood to adolescence. ▶ We examine the distribution of health transitions using descriptive analysis, and explore the determinants of these distributions by estimating the contributions of family SES, unobserved heterogeneity and state dependence and also allowing for heterogeneity of state dependence parameters across categories of neighborhood status. ▶ Positive state dependence of child health is observed from the results in all dynamic models. ▶ The positive effect of “permanent” household income on child health is stronger in richer neighborhoods and also more educated neighborhoods, while the positive effect of “permanent” household income on child health is weaker in neighborhoods with fewer lone-parent families and also in neighborhoods with fewer families living in rental accommodations. ▶ Children living in poorer neighborhoods, in neighborhoods with lower education levels and in neighborhoods with more families headed by lone-parents tend to experience poor health status for longer after a transition to it, while children tend to experience multiple health drops living in poorer neighborhoods, in neighborhoods with less educated people, in neighborhoods with more families headed by lone-parents and in neighborhoods with more families living in rental accommodation.