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Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood Body Mass Index (BMI) are becoming increasingly more pronounced across the world. Although countries differ in the direction and strength of these inequalities, cross-national comparative research on this topic is rare. This paper draws on harmonized longitudinal cohort data from four wealthy countries—Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US)—to 1) map cross-country differences in the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in childhood BMI, and 2) to examine cross-country differences in the role of three energy-balance-related behaviors—physical activity, screen time, and breakfast consumption—in explaining these inequalities. Children were aged 5–7 at our first timepoint and were followed up at age 8–11. We used data from the German National Educational Panel Study, the Dutch Generation R study, the UK Millennium Cohort Study and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal-Kindergarten Study. All countries revealed significant inequalities in childhood BMI. The US stood out in having the largest inequalities. Overall, inequalities between children with low versus medium educated parents were smaller than those between children with high versus medium educated parents. The role of energy-balance-related behaviors in explaining inequalities in BMI was surprisingly consistent. Across countries, physical activity did not, while screen time and breakfast consumption did play a role. The only exception was that breakfast consumption did not play a role in the US. Cross-country differences emerged in the relative contribution of each behavior in explaining inequalities in BMI: Breakfast consumption was most important in the UK, screen time explained most in Germany and the US, and breakfast consumption and screen time were equally important in the Netherlands. Our findings suggest that what constitutes the most effective policy intervention differs across countries and that these should target both c

Empirical research repeatedly shows cross-country differences in the extent and distribution of socioeconomic inequalities in educational achievement. This observation is the starting point for the comparative DICE-project (Development of Inequalities in Child Educational Achievement: A Six-Country Study). It aims to improve the understanding of child development by socioeconomic status, operationalised in terms of parental education in six countries: France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The project moves beyond cross-sectional and single country snapshots and examines the development of inequalities from 3 years of age up to the end of lower secondary schooling. In this contribution, we introduce the six countries. First, by synthesizing data from a range of international databases we provide a rich and multidimensional characterisation of macrostructural conditions in each country. Linking the contextual situation in the DICE-countries to general theoretical assumptions about the effects of macrostructural conditions, we highlight the implications for cross-national differences in inequalities in educational achievement. Second, we analyse PISA data providing information about achievement test scores at age 15. We study how the different packages of macrostructural characteristics described in the contextual section are reflected in terms of educational inequalities by the end of lower secondary schooling in each country.