David et al. Respond to “The Socioeconomic Causes of Adverse Birth Outcomes”

摘要

We appreciate the supportive reflection presented in the accompanying invited commentary by Drs. Messer and Kaufman (1) on our weathering study (2). We strongly agree with their statement that we have just begun to scratch the surface of this area of research. Data limitations and theoretical perspective have inhibited exploration of social causation in birth outcomes, especially when a long-term view—lifelong or beyond—is concerned. Similar limitations have been reviewed extensively in the Journal (3, 4). The data set constructed for this project could probably be replicated and improved upon in other populations, by using more recent cohorts to expand this promising front in perinatal social epidemiology.