Impact of Parental Migration on Environmental Exposure Related Time-Activity Patterns of Left-behind Children in China: Results from the First National Population-based Survey

摘要

Internal migration in China has separated large numbers of rural children from their parents, with the advancement of China's urbanization process. Understanding the patterns of time activity of left-behind children in China helps to make reliable exposure assessments that have not been noticed or confused in the past. Our study based on the first national wide survey, the Children's Environmental Exposure Related Activity Patterns (0-5 years), investigates the distribution of left-behind children in China, outdoor and indoor activity time, traffic use and transportation of left-behind children We found that nearly one third rural children(29.7%) under 6 years old were left-behind children separated with one or both parents. After controlling the confounding factors we found that separation from parents significantly affects children's time activity patterns in rural areas. For different age groups, the increase effect and 95% confidence interval of separation from parents for the outdoor activity time of children in rural are: <1 year: 16.1min/day (95%CI:10.6, 21.6), 1 year: 16.1min/day (95%CI:10.6, 21.6), 2 year: 16.6min/day (95%CI:8.9, 24.4) and 3～5year: 16.6min/day (95%CI:8.9, 24.4), respectively. The reduce effect on the indoor activity time are: <1 year: -16.1 min/day(95%CI:-21.6, -10.6), 1 year: -10.3min/day (95%CI:-17.7, -2.9), 2 year: -16.0min/day (95%CI:-23.7, -8.3) and 3～5year -19.8min/day (95%CI:-24.2, -15.5), respectively. Separation from parents increases the incidence of traffic behavior in rural children which means left-behind children emerge 1.15 (1.02, 1.30)(OR) more times than non-left-behind children on traffic and 1.17 (1.09, 1.33)(OR) more times in vehicle on transportation. The proportion of stunted children left behind is statistically significantly higher than that of non-left-behind children. We quantified the impact of the separation of parents and children on their time activity patterns, which can help us to improve the assessment of children's air pollution exposure without neglecting left-behind children.