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Prenatal exposure to the German food crisis 1944–1948 and health after 65 years

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  • Jürges, Hendrik
  • Kopetsch, Thomas

Abstract

Using data on 90% of the German population born 1930–1959, we investigate the long-term relationship between intra-uterine exposure to the German food crisis 1944–1948 and 16 doctor-diagnosed health conditions recorded in 2009 and 2015. Among the exposed, who are 60–70 years old in our data, we find elevated risks of being diagnosed with a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, depression, lung disease, and back pain. In terms of critical periods, malnutrition in the first trimester of pregnancy appears to have the strongest negative correlation with health at older ages.

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  • Jürges, Hendrik & Kopetsch, Thomas, 2021. "Prenatal exposure to the German food crisis 1944–1948 and health after 65 years," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:40:y:2021:i:c:s1570677x20302227
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2020.100952
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    Cited by:

    1. Fooken, Jonas & Vo, Linh K., 2022. "Are stunted child – overweight mother pairs a real defined entity or a statistical artifact?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fetal origins; Nutrition; Health; Aging;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-

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