Inequity in child health: the importance of early childhood development

Child health inequalities were first described in the mid-19th century as differences in infant mortality rates across occupational and social classes. Despite an overall improvement in health and advances in health care in many high-income countries, inequalities in mortality and morbidity have persisted and widened. For most health conditions, there is a ‘social gradient’; the greater the social disadvantage, the higher the prevalence of disease.