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Prenatal malnutrition and subsequent foetal loss risk: Evidence from the 1959-1961 Chinese famine

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  • Shige Song

    (City University of New York)

Abstract

Background: Scientists disagree on whether prenatal malnutrition has long-term influences on women’s reproductive function, and empirical evidence of such long-term effects remains limited and inconsistent. Methods: Using the retrospective pregnancy history of 12,567 Chinese women collected in a nationally representative sample survey in 2001, this study conducted difference-in-differences analyses to investigate the relationship between prenatal exposure to the 1959-1961 Great Leap Forward Famine in China and the subsequent risk of involuntary foetal loss, including miscarriage and stillbirth, and how this relationship changes between the rural and urban populations. Results: Prenatal exposure to the Great Leap Forward Famine had no long-term effect on women’s risk of miscarriage. Such an exposure increased the risk of stillbirth among urban women but not among rural women. Conclusions: The results support the foetal origins hypothesis. The significant urban-rural difference in the effect of prenatal famine exposure on stillbirth suggests the presence of a long-term negative foetal origins effect and a strong selection effect caused by famine-induced population attrition.

Suggested Citation

  • Shige Song, 2013. "Prenatal malnutrition and subsequent foetal loss risk: Evidence from the 1959-1961 Chinese famine," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(26), pages 707-728.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:29:y:2013:i:26
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2013.29.26
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    Cited by:

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    2. Xu, Hongwei & Li, Lydia & Zhang, Zhenmei & Liu, Jinyu, 2016. "Is natural experiment a cure? Re-examining the long-term health effects of China's 1959–1961 famine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 110-122.
    3. Wang, Lijian & Béland, Daniel & Zhang, Sifeng, 2014. "Pension financing in China: Is there a looming crisis?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 143-154.
    4. Jolejole-Foreman, Maria Christina & Olofin, Ibironke & Fawzi, Wafaie & Fink, Gunther, 2016. "Associations between Food Scarcity during Pregnancy and Children’s Survival and Linear Growth in Zambia," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235111, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Song, Shige, 2014. "Evidence of adaptive intergenerational sex ratio adjustment in contemporary human populations," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 14-21.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    multiple imputation; famine; foetal loss; foetal origins; difference-in-difference-in-difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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