Adult height and childhood disease |
| |
Authors: | Carlos Bozzoli Angus Deaton Climent Quintana-Domeque |
| |
Institution: | Carlos Bozzoli, DIW—Berlin (German Institute for Economic Research).;Angus Deaton, Center for Health and Wellbeing and Research Program in Development Studies, Princeton University.;Climent Quintana-Domeque, Departament de Fonaments de l’Anàlisi Econòmica, Universitat d’Alacant. |
| |
Abstract: | Taller populations are typically richer populations, and taller individuals live longer and earn more. In consequence, adult
height has recently become a focus in understanding the relationship between health and wealth. We investigate the childhood
determinants of population adult height, focusing on the respective roles of income and of disease. Across a range of European
countries and the United States, we find a strong inverse relationship between postneonatal (ages 1 month to 1 year) mortality,
interpreted as a measure of the disease and nutritional burden in childhood, and the mean height of those children as adults.
Consistent with these findings, we develop a model of selection and stunting in which the early-life burden of undernutrition
and disease not only is responsible for mortality in childhood but also leaves a residue of long-term health risks for survivors,
risks that express themselves in adult height and in late-life disease. The model predicts that at sufficiently high mortality
levels, selection can dominate scarring, leaving a taller population of survivors. We find evidence of this effect in the
poorest and highest-mortality countries of the world, supplementing recent findings on the effects of the Great Chinese Famine. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|