Adult body height as a mediator between early-life conditions and socio-economic status: the case of the Dutch Potato Famine, 1846–1847

•We assess the interplay between early-life environmental conditions, height and occupation.•We test the relationships using 7 time periods, from in utero to late adolescence.•We find strong positive associations between height and occupation.•Potato prices during adolescence are a significant predi...

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Veröffentlicht in:Economics and human biology 2019-08, Vol.34, p.103-114
Hauptverfasser: Thompson, Kristina, Lindeboom, Maarten, Portrait, France
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container_title Economics and human biology
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creator Thompson, Kristina
Lindeboom, Maarten
Portrait, France
description •We assess the interplay between early-life environmental conditions, height and occupation.•We test the relationships using 7 time periods, from in utero to late adolescence.•We find strong positive associations between height and occupation.•Potato prices during adolescence are a significant predictor of height and occupation. Adult body height appears to be a relatively accurate summary variable of early-life exposures’ influence on health, and may be a useful indicator of health in populations where more traditional health-related indicators are lacking. In particular, previous studies have shown a strong, positive relationship between environmental conditions in early life (particularly nutritional availability and the disease environment) and adult height. Research has also demonstrated positive associations between height and socioeconomic status. We therefore hypothesize that height mediates the relationship between early-life conditions and later-life socio-economic outcomes. We also hypothesize that the period of exposure in early life matters, and that conditions during pregnancy or the first years of life and/or the years during puberty have the largest effects on height and socio-economic status. To test these relationships, we use a sample of 1817 Dutch military conscripts who were exposed during early life to the Dutch Potato Famine (1846–1847). We conduct mediation analyses using structural equation modelling, and test seven different time periods in early-life. We use potato prices and real wages to proxy early-life environmental conditions, and occupational status (using the HISCAM scale) to proxy socioeconomic status. We find no evidence of mediation, partial or full, in any models. However, there are significant relationships between potato prices in adolescence, height and socio-economic status. To determine causality in these relationships, further research is needed.
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Adult body height appears to be a relatively accurate summary variable of early-life exposures’ influence on health, and may be a useful indicator of health in populations where more traditional health-related indicators are lacking. In particular, previous studies have shown a strong, positive relationship between environmental conditions in early life (particularly nutritional availability and the disease environment) and adult height. Research has also demonstrated positive associations between height and socioeconomic status. We therefore hypothesize that height mediates the relationship between early-life conditions and later-life socio-economic outcomes. We also hypothesize that the period of exposure in early life matters, and that conditions during pregnancy or the first years of life and/or the years during puberty have the largest effects on height and socio-economic status. 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subjects Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Body Height - physiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Critical period
Early-life conditions
Ethnic Groups
Famine
Famine - history
Famine - statistics & numerical data
Female
Height
History, 19th Century
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Military Personnel - history
Military Personnel - statistics & numerical data
Netherlands
Netherlands - epidemiology
Occupations - history
Occupations - statistics & numerical data
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - history
Social Class
Socio-economic status
Socioeconomic Factors
Solanum tuberosum
title Adult body height as a mediator between early-life conditions and socio-economic status: the case of the Dutch Potato Famine, 1846–1847
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