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Paternal grandfather’s access to food predicts all-cause and cancer mortality in grandsons

Author

Listed:
  • Denny Vågerö

    (SE-106 91 Stockholm University)

  • Pia R. Pinger

    (University of Bonn
    briq, Institute on Behavior & Inequality)

  • Vanda Aronsson

    (SE-106 91 Stockholm University)

  • Gerard J. van den Berg

    (University of Bristol
    IFAU, Institute for Evaluation of Labor Market and Education Policy)

Abstract

Studies of animals and plants suggest that nutritional conditions in one generation may affect phenotypic characteristics in subsequent generations. A small number of human studies claim to show that pre-pubertal nutritional experience trigger a sex-specific transgenerational response along the male line. A single historical dataset, the Överkalix cohorts in northern Sweden, is often quoted as evidence. To test this hypothesis on an almost 40 times larger dataset we collect harvest data during the pre-pubertal period of grandparents (G0, n = 9,039) to examine its potential association with mortality in children (G1, n = 7,280) and grandchildren (G2, n = 11,561) in the Uppsala Multigeneration Study. We find support for the main Överkalix finding: paternal grandfather’s food access in pre-puberty predicts his male, but not female, grandchildren’s all-cause mortality. In our study, cancer mortality contributes strongly to this pattern. We are unable to reproduce previous results for diabetes and cardiovascular mortality.

Suggested Citation

  • Denny Vågerö & Pia R. Pinger & Vanda Aronsson & Gerard J. van den Berg, 2018. "Paternal grandfather’s access to food predicts all-cause and cancer mortality in grandsons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-07617-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07617-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Dora Costa, 2021. "Health Shocks of the Father and Longevity of the Children's Children," NBER Working Papers 29553, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Dora Costa & CoraLee Lewis & Noelle Yetter, 2022. "Children and Grandchildren of Union Army Veterans: New Data Collections to Study the Persistence of Longevity and Socioeconomic Status Across Generations," NBER Working Papers 30747, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Costa, Dora L., 2023. "Overweight grandsons and grandfathers’ starvation exposure," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

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