PhD defence Y. (Yueyue) You

Brief summary of the doctoral thesis:

Child health is a state of physical, mental, intellectual, social and emotional well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Protecting and improving the health of children is of fundamental importance. From a life course perspective, child health outcomes can be affected by various factors from early childhood till adolescence, such as individual and family-related factors. Individual factors refer to age, sex, ethnic background, and health history. Apart from individual factors, family-related factors (i.e. socioeconomic status of a family and home environment) play an important role in children’s growth and development since children’s lives are centered within their families. Identifying what specific factors may influence children’s lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes can help develop effective prevention strategies against unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and adverse health outcomes. Thus, in my PhD thesis, we studied individual and family-related factors that are relevant for indicators of child health, health-related quality of life, and lifestyle behaviors. Our findings presented can support the development of evidence-based preventive interventions, practice guidelines and policies to promote child health and well-being.