SES, urbanization and health in China: Evidences from a longitudinal study.

Both socioeconomic status (SES) and urbanization exert important impact on health inequality. Unprecedented urbanization, economic development and changes in social structure in last three decades make China a unique case to study the associations between urbanization, SES and health inequality. Using a five-wave dataset spanning 13 years (China Health and Nutrition Survey [CHNS] 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006), this paper investigates how urbanization modifies the pathway through which SES affect health in contemporary China. It finds that both income and education have positive impact on health. However, the effect of income is suppressed by rapid urbanization. China's nutrition transition and environment pollution related with urbanization may attribute to this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]