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AIM: To investigate the impact of parental region of birth on the risk of exposure to second-hand smoke for infants. METHODS: The smoking habits, according to child health records, of parents of 14 431 infants in Uppsala county, Sweden, born during 1997-2001, were investigated with logistic regression in the presence of socio-economic and demographic confounders from national registers. RESULTS: Fathers born outside of Sweden smoked more often than Swedish-born fathers irrespective of region of birth (adjusted odds ratios [ORs] 1.77-3.02). Mothers born in Africa (adjusted OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.15-0.58) and Asia (adjusted OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.40-0.70) smoked less often than Swedish-born mothers. Single parenthood, low income and mother's age <or=24 years increased the risk for parental smoking. CONCLUSION: The present study indicates that the risk of smoking in immigrant parents of infants is influenced by the smoking patterns in the region of birth. Smoke cessation interventions targeting fathers are particularly important in immigrant-dense neighbourhoods in Sweden.

AIM: To study the relationship between maternal region of birth, disposable income and breastfeeding initiation and duration. METHODS: The study population consisted of 12,197 term born, singleton infants, born 1997-2001 in the county of Uppsala. Data on breastfeeding at 1 week, 6 months and 12 months were collected from the register of statistics of the Child Health Care Unit in Uppsala and socioeconomic indicators from Swedish national registers. Multivariate analysis was conducted using Cox regression. RESULTS: No influence of disposable income or region of birth on breastfeeding initiation was observed. Breastfeeding rates at 6 months were lower for mothers with disposable incomes in quartile 1-3 compared with mothers with the highest incomes in quartile 4 (hazard ratios (HRs) 0.88-0.90, adjusted HRs 0.92). The breastfeeding rates at 12 months were higher for mothers born in all regions compared with mothers born in Sweden (HRs 1.25-2.45, adjusted HRs 1.20-2.14). CONCLUSIONS: The findings in the present study show that disposable income is a strong predictor for breastfeeding at 6 months in the Swedish context. Region of birth of the mother predicted long term breastfeeding, > or =12 months. This calls for professionals in the maternity and child health care to pay extra attention to breastfeeding in low-income mothers in all ethnic groups.

AIM: To study the uptake of child health care among low-income and immigrant families in the county of Uppsala, Sweden, to investigate whether these families received extra attention as proposed in the Swedish Child Health Services (CHS) state-of-the-art consensus document from the year 2000.

METHODS: Data were collected for 25,024 infants born 1998-2006 from the database of statistics of the Child Health Care Unit in Uppsala and socio-demographic indicators from Swedish national registers. Disposable income was divided into quartiles. Country of birth of the mother was categorized into four regions with two subgroups each, mothers with or without a Swedish-born partner. Analysis was conducted by Cox regression and linear regression models.

RESULTS: Small differences between Swedish vs. immigrant and high vs. low-income families were detected. Low-income mothers (RR 0.78) as well as mothers born in all country of birth regions with an immigrant partner (RR 0.28-0.95) had lower rates of participation in parental groups.

CONCLUSION: The CHS provided basic child health care to almost all infants including children in immigrant and low-income Swedish families. However, the results did not indicate that disadvantaged families received the extra attention proposed in the consensus document.

Background:

Young age and lone parenthood are risk factors for impaired health among mothers and their children. Due to the higher risks of negative influences on physical and mental health, young and single mothers should be of special concern to the Child Health Services (CHS). In the present study, we investigated consumption patterns of child health care services among young and single mothers in Uppsala County, Sweden to study whether they are reached by the universal CHS program and if selective or indicative measures were administered in daily CHS practice.

Methods:

Register data on CHS contacts and socio-demographic indicators were collected for 10,692 infants, born in1998-2006.

Results:

Small differences in contact pattern and immunization status, between young versus older, and single versus cohabiting mothers, were detected. However, both young (RR 0.64) and single (RR 0.80) mothers had significantly lower rates of participation in parental group.

Conclusions:

The CHS were successful in implementing the universal preventive child health programme for all families, including families with young or single mothers. There was no indication, however, of an established selective preventive strategy aimed at these high risk families. Programs for strengthening the support provided to vulnerable families by the CHS are needed.