The impact of social inequalities on children's knowledge and representation of health and cancer.

Social inequalities affect representations of cancer and health literacy from early childhood. Prevention programs taking into account these representations need to be introduced at school. What is Known: • Social inequalities for cancer mortality are observed in all European countries and are particularly pronounced in France. • Reducing these inequalities in prevention programs implies studying the knowledge and mental representations of cancer among children. What is New: • This study identified representations of cancer in young children according to social level. • At age 9, children living in deprived areas are less able to produce content in discussions about cancer and have narrower mental representations and a more fatalistic view.