Socioeconomic circumstances, ethnicity, migration and unintentional early childhood injuries: an analysis of the UK millennium cohort study

Background: Although health inequalities associated with ethnic disadvantage are of increasing concern to policymakers in the United Kingdom (UK), evidence on ethnicity and childhood unintentional injuries is unclear. Given that people from some minority ethnic communities face disproportionate disadvantage such as unemployment, poverty, and insecure and low-quality housing, children from these families might be expected to have higher risks of unintentional injuries compared to their White counterparts. Aims: To determine whether the likelihood of unintentional childhood injuries vary among children from minority ethnic backgrounds and whether this variation can be explained by maternal migration status and variables relating to household composition, parenting attitudes and behaviours. Methods: We used logistic regression to analyse data from 12,717 children using sweeps two (2003–2004) and three (2005–2006) of the Millennium Cohort Study. Unintentional childhood injuries were measured in the third sweep of data collection when the children were aged five. Exposure variables included socioeconomic information, ethnicity, housing, household composition, maternal migration status and variables relating to parenting, values, and behaviours. Results: Children from some minority ethnic backgrounds (Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black African, and ‘other’) were less likely to be injured than White children. Having a mother who was born outside the UK explained the relationship in Pakistani and Bangladeshi children. We observed differences in variables such as parenting style, values, household composition, and smoking and alcohol use among minority ethnic and migrant groups, but these variables did not statistically explain the differences in childhood injury. Conclusions: Children from minority ethnic families in the UK are less likely to sustain unintentional injuries compared to their White peers, with this protective effect primarily evident among children whose mothers were born outside the UK. While cultural and behavioural differences were observed between ethnic groups, these did not statistically explain the injury variation. The findings emphasise the importance of disaggregating ethnicity and migrant status in injury prevention research and investigating the mechanisms underlying lower injury rates among first-generation migrant families.