ABSTRACT
In this paper, we investigate whether skin color is a source of inequality in women's health by exploring the longitudinal framework of the PCSVDFMulher survey in Northeast Brazil. Specifically, we measure the skin color gradient in women's general and mental health, as well as in showing health risk behavior. We find that darker-skinned women show poorer mental health outcomes and a higher likelihood of drinking and smoking more frequently than their lighter-skinned counterparts. The skin color gradient is persistent and systematic, even when modeling different sources of unobserved heterogeneity and accounting for the existing socioeconomic inequalities and racial identity. We also find that racial identity is an important source of heterogeneous responses of women's health to skin tone.
Subject(s)
Skin Pigmentation , Women's Health , Female , Humans , Brazil/epidemiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Mental Health , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
In this paper, we aim to investigate the potential relationship between smoking onset among nine-grade Brazilian students and economic fluctuations during their life in utero. Using data about smoking behavior from the 2012 National Survey of School Health and the unemployment rate as a proxy for economic fluctuations, we estimate an interval censoring model for the risk of early smoking onset in adolescence. The results suggest that students who experienced economic downturn during the third trimester of pregnancy are less likely to have the first experience of smoking earlier in adolescence than their counterparts. This association is basically driven by students of low-SES mothers who are less prevalent in the sample and potentially more susceptible to have their fertility decision influenced by economic cycles
Neste artigo, investigou-se a relação potencial entre o início do tabagismo entre estudantes brasileiros do 9o ano do ensino fundamental e as flutuações econômicas durante a vida intrauterina. Usando dados sobre o comportamento em relação ao hábito de fumar entre adolescentes da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde Escolar em 2012 e a taxa de desemprego como proxy para as flutuações econômicas, estimou-se um modelo de risco para o início precoce do tabagismo na adolescência. Os resultados sugerem que as estudantes que experimentaram desaceleração econômica durante o último trimestre de gestação são menos propensas a experimentarem cigarro mais cedo na adolescência. Esta associação é basicamente observada para estudantes cujas mães possuem baixo status socioeconômico, as quais são menos prevalentes na amostra e mais suscetíveis à influência dos ciclos econômicos sobre a decisão de fertilidade.