Neal Halfon
Biographic Data
| ID | 1743541 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Neal Halfon |
| GIVEN NAMES | Neal |
| FAMILY NAME | Halfon |
| SIGNATURE | HALFON N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Los Angeles |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7956-118X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 45 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 186 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 44 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1986 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
A Scoping Review of Acculturation Challenges of Immigrants From the Former Soviet Union in the United States From a Life Course Perspective
The United States is home to over a million former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants, yet literature on their familial dynamics and mental health and well-being is scarce. Following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework, this scoping review synthesizes literature since 1990 about FSU immigrants’ acculturation and well-being across 10 databases. The scoping review included 39 studies. The selected articles revealed three themes: (a) maintaining cultural and…
Evaluating and shaping early childhood policy in New Mexico: Using kindergarteners’ developmental health as a population health measure
Findings indicate generally positive developmental health among New Mexico kindergarteners, yet significant disparities persist across demographic and neighborhood lines. The integration of bold policy reforms with a statewide developmental assessment represents a promising model for monitoring population health and identifying opportunities for targeted early childhood prevention and early intervention supports
Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) Child Well-Being and Assets in a Predominantly Hispanic/Latinx Student Population
Monitoring child development at the population level is essential for informing research, policy, and practice. There is limited population-level data on middle childhood (ages 10–13)—a critical developmental stage marked by biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes—as well as a lack of self-report data from Hispanic/Latinx children. This U.S.-based study aimed to (1) describe 5th and 6th grade students’ self-reported Middle Years Develop…
Navigating Acculturation: Overcoming Challenges and Creating Pathways to Well-Being for Central Asian Immigrants in the United States
This study explores the adaptations of recent immigrants from Central Asia (CA) to the United States. Using qualitative grounded theory analysis of narratives from 42 immigrants, gathered through semi-structured interviews and focus groups, acculturation, life course development, resilience, and intersectionality frameworks were applied to the analysis. Participants included 21 women and 21 men aged 22 to 45. Three major themes emerged. The first…
Ensuring Optimal Outcomes for Preterm Infants after Nicu Discharge: A Life Course Health Development Approach to High-Risk Infant Follow-Up
Children born prematurely (<37 weeks' gestation) have an increased risk for chronic health problems and developmental challenges compared to their term-born peers. The threats to health and development posed by prematurity, the unintended effects of life-sustaining neonatal intensive care, the associated neonatal morbidities, and the profound stressors to families affect well-being during infancy, childhood, adolescence, and beyond. Specialized c…
A Descriptive Study of Well-Being and Assets in Middle Childhood during the Covid-19 Pandemic in a Los Angeles County School District
A qualitative study of adaptation challenges of Ukrainian refugees in the United States
Unveiling early childhood health inequities by age five through the national neighborhood equity index and the early development instrument
There is growing public urgency to close equity gaps in health and development by addressing inequities at multiple levels of children's developmental ecosystems. Current measurement strategies obscure the dynamic structural and relational patterns of oppression, adversity, and disadvantage that children can experience in their local intimate developmental ecosystem, as well as the leverage points that are necessary to change them. The purpose of…
Income is not an equalizer: Health development inequities by ethnoracial backgrounds in California kindergartners
This study examines health development inequities among California kindergarteners in diverse communities. Our analysis shows that the relationship between neighborhood-level income and kindergartners' health development varies by domain and is weaker for students of color. Given the scarcity of population-level data on health development outcomes, these analyses offer valuable insights for identifying ecosystems necessitating support in promotin…
The Gross Developmental Potential (GDP2): A new approach for measuring human potential and wellbeing
Many factors influence the health and well-being of children and the adults they will become. Yet there are significant gaps in how trajectories of healthy development are measured, how the potential for leading a healthy life is evaluated, and how that information can guide upstream policies and investments. The Gross Developmental Potential (GDP2) is proposed as a new capabilities-based framework for assessing threats to thriving and understand…
The Child and Adolescent Thriving Index 1.0: Developing a Measure of the Outcome Indicators of Well-Being for Population Health Assessment
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12187-022-09962-0
Intergenerational Associations between Parents’ and Children’s Adverse Childhood Experience Scores
Parents with higher ACE scores are far more likely to have children with higher ACEs. Addressing parenting stress, aggravation, and discord may interrupt intergenerational adversity cycles
Covid-19 and Children’s Well-Being: A Rapid Research Agenda
Enacting this research agenda will require engaging the community, especially youth, as equal partners in research co-design processes; centering anti-racist perspectives; adopting a "strengths-based" approach; and integrating young researchers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). New collaborative funding models and investments in data infrastructure are also needed
The kindergarten Early Development Instrument predicts third grade academic proficiency
Handbook of Life Course Health Development
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This handbook synthesizes and analyzes the growing knowledge base on life course health development (LCHD) from the prenatal period through emerging
Developmental disabilities among children younger than 5 years in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016
BACKGROUND: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mandate systematic monitoring of the health and wellbeing of all children to achieve optimal early childhood development. However, global epidemiological data on children with developmental disabilities are scarce. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 provides a comprehensive assessment of prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs) for development disabili…
Parents’ Adverse Childhood Experiences and Their Children’s Behavioral Health Problems
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include stressful and potentially traumatic events associated with higher risk of long-term behavioral problems and chronic illnesses. Whether parents' ACE counts (an index of standard ACEs) confer intergenerational risk to their children's behavioral health is unknown. In this study, we estimate the risk of child behavioral problems as a function of parent ACE counts. METHODS: We ob…
Early Child Development, Residential Crowding, and Commute Time in 8 US States, 2010–2017
Objectives. To examine relationships of residential crowding and commute time with early child development. Methods. We used the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a teacher-reported, population-health measure of child development. The sample included child-level observations spanning 8 US states from 2010 to 2017 (n = 185 012), aggregated to the census tract (n= 2793), stratified by percentage of households in poverty. To test the association o…
Adverse Childhood Experiences: Assessing The Impact On Health And School Engagement And The Mitigating Role Of Resilience
The ongoing longitudinal Adverse Childhood Experiences Study of adults has found significant associations between chronic conditions; quality of life and life expectancy in adulthood; and the trauma and stress associated with adverse childhood experiences, including physical or emotional abuse or neglect, deprivation, or exposure to violence. Less is known about the population-based epidemiology of adverse childhood experiences among US children.…
Associations Between Obesity and Comorbid Mental Health, Developmental, and Physical Health Conditions in a Nationally Representative Sample of US Children Aged 10 to 17
Lifecourse Health Development: Past, Present and Future
During the latter half of the twentieth century, an explosion of research elucidated a growing number of causes of disease and contributors to health. Biopsychosocial models that accounted for the wide range of factors influencing health began to replace outmoded and overly simplified biomedical models of disease causation. More recently, models of lifecourse health development (LCHD) have synthesized research from biological, behavioral and soci…
A Lifecourse Approach to Health Development: Implications for the Maternal and Child Health Research Agenda
Addressing health inequalities in the US: A life course health development approach
Introduction of Solid Food to Young Infants
Timing of the first introduction of solid food during infancy may have potential effects on life-long health. To understand the characteristics that are associated with the timing of infants' initial exposure to solid foods. The 2000 National Survey of Early Childhood Health (NSECH) was a nationally representative telephone survey of 2,068 parents of children aged 4-35 months, which profiled content and quality of health care for young children. …
Meeting children's basic health needs: From patchwork to tapestry
Life Course Health Development: An Integrated Framework for Developing Health, Policy, and Research
T his article describes the L ife C ourse H ealth Development (LCHD) framework, which was created to explain how health trajectories develop over an individual's lifetime and how this knowledge can guide new approaches to policy and research. Using recent research from the fields of public health, medicine, human development, and social sciences, the LCHD framework shows that Health is a consequence of multiple determinants operating in nested ge…
Prevalence and impact of disabling chronic conditions in childhood
OBJECTIVES: This study provides a current national profile of the prevalence and impact of chronic conditions causing childhood disability. Disability is defined as a long-term reduction in ability to conduct social role activities, such as school or play, because of a chronic physical or mental condition. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive analysis was performed on data from 99513 children younger than 18 years who were included in the 1992-…
Recidivism in child protective services
Trends in activity-limiting chronic conditions among children
Data from the National Health Interview Survey indicate that the prevalence of activity-limiting chronic conditions among children under age 17 years doubled between 1960 and 1981, from 1.8 to 3.8 per cent. Approximately 40 per cent of the overall rise in prevalence occurred before 1970. Most of the increase in prevalence during this early period can be attributed to changes in questionnaire design and aging of the child population following the …
Parenting-Related Stressors and Self-Reported Mental Health of Mothers With Young Children
Objectives. We assessed whether there were associations between maternal mental health and individual and co-occurring parenting stressors related to social and financial factors and child health care access. Methods. We used cross-sectional data from the 2000 National Survey of Early Childhood Health. The 5-item Mental Health Inventory was used to measure self-reported mental health. Results. After we controlled for demographic covariates, we fo…
Vaccination levels in Los Angeles public health centers: The contribution of missed opportunities to vaccinate and other factors
We abstracted 752 randomly selected records of 2-year-old children at 5 public health centers in Los Angeles. Only 27% of the children were up-to-date in their vaccinations by 2 years of age. Being up-to-date was strongly associated with the number of missed opportunities to vaccinate and number of well child visits. Missed opportunities to vaccinate occurred during 52% of all visits and were associated with minor illness diagnoses and inaccurate…
Addressing health inequalities in the US: A life course health development approach
Early Child Development, Residential Crowding, and Commute Time in 8 US States, 2010–2017
Objectives. To examine relationships of residential crowding and commute time with early child development. Methods. We used the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a teacher-reported, population-health measure of child development. The sample included child-level observations spanning 8 US states from 2010 to 2017 (n = 185 012), aggregated to the census tract (n= 2793), stratified by percentage of households in poverty. To test the association o…
The kindergarten Early Development Instrument predicts third grade academic proficiency
A qualitative study of adaptation challenges of Ukrainian refugees in the United States
Meeting children's basic health needs: From patchwork to tapestry
Trends in activity-limiting chronic conditions among children
Data from the National Health Interview Survey indicate that the prevalence of activity-limiting chronic conditions among children under age 17 years doubled between 1960 and 1981, from 1.8 to 3.8 per cent. Approximately 40 per cent of the overall rise in prevalence occurred before 1970. Most of the increase in prevalence during this early period can be attributed to changes in questionnaire design and aging of the child population following the …
Response from Newacheck, et al
Response from Newacheck, et al Paul W. Newacheck, Peter P. Budetti, and Neal Halfon CopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.76.10.1252-a Published Online: October 07, 2011
Trends in the hospitalization for acute childhood asthma, 1970-84
Data from the 1970 through 1984 National Hospital Discharge Surveys indicate that the rate of hospitalization for children under 15 years old with asthma has increased at least 145 per cent while the average length of stay for children with asthma decreased by 26 per cent from 5 days in 1970 to 3.6 days in 1984. Over an analogous period (1970 to 1980), data from the National Health Interview Survey indicate that the prevalence of childhood asthma…
The Association Between Mother??s and Children??s Use of Physician Services
Using data from the National Health Interview Survey on approximately 30,000 children, maternal and child ambulatory care utilization patterns are compared. The results indicate that maternal physician utilization is closely associated with child utilization, as measured by presence or absence of a physician visit over the course of a year as well as annual volume of use. Maternal use appears to be a more powerful predictor of child use than seve…
The Financial Burden of Medical Care Expenses for Children
Data from the 1980 National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey are used to assess whether financial burdens incurred in obtaining medical services for children are distributed equitably among families with different incomes. When measured in absolute terms, out-of-pocket charges appear to increase in a progressive fashion with family income. However, when out-of-pocket charges are measured relative to ability to pay, a regressive pat…
Communicating health information in the California foster care system: Problems and recommendations
Health Status of Children in Foster Care: The Experience of the Center for the Vulnerable Child
OBJECTIVES: To describe the health status and to illustrate the usefulness of an enhanced primary care model for children in foster care. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of a clinical cohort via chart review. SETTING: Foster Care Program of the Center for the Vulnerable Child at the Children's Hospital, Oakland, Calif. SUBJECTS: Two hundred thirteen children in foster care assessed between August 1988 and June 1991. INTERVENTIONS: None. METHODS:…
Vaccination levels in Los Angeles public health centers: The contribution of missed opportunities to vaccinate and other factors
We abstracted 752 randomly selected records of 2-year-old children at 5 public health centers in Los Angeles. Only 27% of the children were up-to-date in their vaccinations by 2 years of age. Being up-to-date was strongly associated with the number of missed opportunities to vaccinate and number of well child visits. Missed opportunities to vaccinate occurred during 52% of all visits and were associated with minor illness diagnoses and inaccurate…
Integrating Children's Health Services: Evaluation of a National Demonstration Project
Recidivism in child protective services
Community Health Monitoring: Taking the Pulse of America's Children
Creating systems of developmental health care for children
Prevalence and impact of disabling chronic conditions in childhood
OBJECTIVES: This study provides a current national profile of the prevalence and impact of chronic conditions causing childhood disability. Disability is defined as a long-term reduction in ability to conduct social role activities, such as school or play, because of a chronic physical or mental condition. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive analysis was performed on data from 99513 children younger than 18 years who were included in the 1992-…
Access to Health Care for Children With Special Health Care Needs
OBJECTIVE: To assess the role health insurance plays in influencing access to care and use of services by children with special health care needs. METHODS: We analyzed data on 57 553 children younger than 18 years old included in the 1994-1995 National Health Interview Survey on Disability. The survey obtained information on special health care needs, insurance status, and access to and use of health services. Bivariate and multivariate analyses …
Life Course Health Development: An Integrated Framework for Developing Health, Policy, and Research
T his article describes the L ife C ourse H ealth Development (LCHD) framework, which was created to explain how health trajectories develop over an individual's lifetime and how this knowledge can guide new approaches to policy and research. Using recent research from the fields of public health, medicine, human development, and social sciences, the LCHD framework shows that Health is a consequence of multiple determinants operating in nested ge…
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Birth Outcomes: A Life-Course Perspective
Childbirth Education Classes: Sociodemographic Disparities in Attendance and the Association of Attendance with Breastfeeding Initiation
Parenting-Related Stressors and Self-Reported Mental Health of Mothers With Young Children
Objectives. We assessed whether there were associations between maternal mental health and individual and co-occurring parenting stressors related to social and financial factors and child health care access. Methods. We used cross-sectional data from the 2000 National Survey of Early Childhood Health. The 5-item Mental Health Inventory was used to measure self-reported mental health. Results. After we controlled for demographic covariates, we fo…
The Health and Cognitive Growth of Latino Toddlers: At Risk or Immigrant Paradox
Epidemiologists have shown how birth outcomes are generally robust for immigrant Latina mothers, despite often situated in poor households, advanced by their strong prenatal and nutritional practices. But little is known about (1) how these protective factors may differ among Latino subgroups, (2) the extent to which birth outcomes, ongoing maternal practices, and family supports advance Latino toddlers' health and physical growth, and (3) whethe…
Family Income Gradients in the Health and Health Care Access of US Children
This study sought to examine the shape and magnitude of family income gradients in US children's health, access to care, and use of services. We analyzed cross-sectional data from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health, a telephone survey of 102,353 parents of children aged 0-17 years. Associations between family income [Below 100% Federal Poverty Level (FPL), 100-199% FPL, 200-299% FPL, 300-399% FPL, 400% FPL or Greater] and a set of 32 h…
Introduction of Solid Food to Young Infants
Timing of the first introduction of solid food during infancy may have potential effects on life-long health. To understand the characteristics that are associated with the timing of infants' initial exposure to solid foods. The 2000 National Survey of Early Childhood Health (NSECH) was a nationally representative telephone survey of 2,068 parents of children aged 4-35 months, which profiled content and quality of health care for young children. …
Meeting children's basic health needs: From patchwork to tapestry
Addressing health inequalities in the US: A life course health development approach
Associations Between Obesity and Comorbid Mental Health, Developmental, and Physical Health Conditions in a Nationally Representative Sample of US Children Aged 10 to 17
Lifecourse Health Development: Past, Present and Future
During the latter half of the twentieth century, an explosion of research elucidated a growing number of causes of disease and contributors to health. Biopsychosocial models that accounted for the wide range of factors influencing health began to replace outmoded and overly simplified biomedical models of disease causation. More recently, models of lifecourse health development (LCHD) have synthesized research from biological, behavioral and soci…
Medicine (35 works) · Psychology (22 works) · Environmental health (19 works) · Nursing (17 works) · Population (17 works) · Public health (17 works) · Psychiatry (15 works) · Political science (12 works) · Health care (11 works) · Child and Adolescent Health (10 works)