Early-life conditions and adult mortality decline in Dutch cohorts born 1812-1921.
Mounting evidence suggests that early-life conditions have an enduring effect on an individual's mortality risks as an adult. The contribution of improvements in early-life conditions to the overall decline in adult mortality, however, remains a debated issue. We provide an estimate of the contribution of improvements in early-life conditions to mortality decline after age 30 in Dutch cohorts born between 1812 and 1921. We used two proxies for early-life conditions: median height and early-childhood mortality. We estimate that improvements in early-life conditions contributed more than five years or about a third to the rise in women's life expectancy at age 30. Improvements in early-life conditions contributed almost three years or more than a quarter to the rise in men's life expectancy at age 30. Height appears to be the more important of the two proxies for early-life conditions.
a Hebrew University.
Jona
J
Schellekens
b Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute.
Frans
F
van Poppel
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history; D009026:Mortality / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors / Q000266:history*
adult mortality; early-childhood mortality; early-life conditions; height; infant mortality