China Academy for Rural Development, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 13;18(22):11948. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182211948.
The level of nutritional health of children and adolescents is an important indicator of social development, and grandparents, as common co-caregivers, may have a considerable impact on the health level of their grandchildren. In this paper, we investigated the effects of grandparents' coresidence on children's and adolescents' nutritional health levels using the CHNS (China Health and Nutrition Survey) database using the PSM (Propensity Score Matching) method' and identified heterogeneity in the effects of grandparents' coresidence by PSM grouping in terms of urban and rural areas, age, and the mothers' education level. It was found that grandparents' coresidence is beneficial for children's and adolescents' health to a certain extent. Overfeeding and spoil that many people worried when grandparents involved in childcare did not happen in our samples. Moreover, grandparents' coresidence had a more significant effect on the health level of children and adolescents in rural areas at a younger age and with a lower level of maternal education. Government and families should put more effort into equipping caregivers with knowledge on how to raise their grandchildren better.
儿童和青少年的营养健康水平是社会发展的重要指标，而祖辈作为常见的共同照顾者，可能对孙辈的健康水平有相当大的影响。本研究利用中国健康与营养调查（CHNS）数据库，采用倾向评分匹配（PSM）方法，考察了祖辈共同居住对儿童和青少年营养健康水平的影响，并根据城乡、年龄和母亲教育水平进行了 PSM 分组，以识别祖辈共同居住影响的异质性。结果表明，祖辈共同居住在一定程度上有利于儿童和青少年的健康。在我们的样本中，并没有出现许多人担心的祖辈参与育儿会导致过度喂养和溺爱等问题。此外，在年龄较小和母亲教育水平较低的农村地区，祖辈共同居住对儿童和青少年健康水平的影响更为显著。政府和家庭应加大力度，为照顾者提供更好地养育孙辈的知识。
