How does childhood socio-economic environment affect the health of middle-aged and elderly people in China? A new perspective with four dimensions of health

Background According to the World Population Outlook (2019), people over 65, usually accompanied by various chronic diseases, will make up 16% of the population in 2050. Therefore, the health problems of middle-aged and elderly people are becoming the focus of current global attention. Some scholars have found that the health of middle-aged and elderly people is related to the childhood socio-economic environment. Methods Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) data, this paper innovatively constructed four measurement dimensions of health (namely, self-rated health, physical health, emotional health, and mental health). Moreover, logistic regression was used to explore the impact of childhood socio-economic environment (such as parent's education level, work experience, etc.) on the health status of middle-aged and elderly people. Results Compared with a poor childhood social-economic environment, a good childhood socio-economic environment is more advantageous to the self-rated health of middle-aged and elderly people, especially a childhood socio-economic environment close to the medium level; the psychological health of middle-aged and elderly people who have experienced an adverse childhood socio-economic environment was better than those who did not; the childhood socio-economic environment has no apparent impact on the cognitive situation of middle-aged and elderly people. Conclusions Some policy implications can be drawn. For example, the government should vigorously introduce policies to help migrant workers' children receive education in cities and provide special education guarantees for migrant workers' children. Societies and families should also pay more attention to the childhood socio-economic environment.