Intergenerational effects of early-life health shocks during the Chinese 1959–1961 famine

A large literature has examined early-life insult and later-life health outcomes. However, whether early-life exposure might persist into the outcomes of future generations remains unclear. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, this study examines the intergenerational effects of early-lif...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ageing and society 2024-01, Vol.44 (1), p.139-154
Main Authors: Xie, Donghong, Zhu, Zhisheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adverse childhood experiences
Agricultural production
Body mass index
DNA methylation
Epigenetics
Families & family life
Famine
Females
Genotype & phenotype
Grandparents
Health
Health status
Hypotheses
Infectious diseases
Influenza
Intergenerational relationships
Life
Metabolism
Older people
Pandemics
Poverty
Prenatal exposure
Rural areas
Second generation
Sex differences
Third generation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A large literature has examined early-life insult and later-life health outcomes. However, whether early-life exposure might persist into the outcomes of future generations remains unclear. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, this study examines the intergenerational effects of early-life health shocks during the great famine in China, distinguishes the intergenerational effects of in utero and early-life famine exposure, and estimates whether there is a sex-specific transgenerational response. Difference-in-difference results show that first-generation male in utero famine exposure (1959–1961) is associated with a series of health and economic disadvantages in the second generation, compared with the unexposed post-famine-born cohort (1964–1965) in China. The effect persists in the third generation but attenuates, and there is no same-sex transgenerational response. These findings may suggest a novel source of multigenerational persistence in health and economic poverty and may point to a need to consider evidence of transgenerational mechanisms.
ISSN:0144-686X
1469-1779
DOI:10.1017/S0144686X22000113