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Prenatal Sugar Consumption and Late-Life Human Capital and Health: Analyses Based on Postwar Rationing and Polygenic Indices

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  • van den Berg, G.J.;
  • von Hinke, S.;
  • Wang, R.A.H.;

Abstract

Maternal sugar consumption in utero may have a variety of effects on offspring. We exploit the abolishment of the rationing of sweet confectionery in the UK on April 24, 1949, and its subsequent reintroduction some months later, in an era of otherwise uninterrupted rationing of confectionery (1942-1953), sugar (1940-1953) and many other foods, and we consider effects on late-life cardiovascular disease, BMI, height, type-2 diabetes and the intake of sugar, fat and carbohydrates, as well as cognitive outcomes and birth weight. We use individual-level data from the UK Biobank for cohorts born between April 1947–May 1952. We also explore whether one’s genetic “predisposition†to the outcome can moderate the effects of prenatal sugar exposure. We find that prenatal exposure to derationing increases education and reduces BMI and sugar consumption at higher ages, in line with the “developmental origins†explanatory framework, and that the sugar effects are stronger for those who are genetically “predisposed†to sugar consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • van den Berg, G.J.; & von Hinke, S.; & Wang, R.A.H.;, 2023. "Prenatal Sugar Consumption and Late-Life Human Capital and Health: Analyses Based on Postwar Rationing and Polygenic Indices," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/11, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    • Handle: RePEc:yor:hectdg:23/11
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    1. Jie Huang & Bryan Howie & Shane McCarthy & Yasin Memari & Klaudia Walter & Josine L. Min & Petr Danecek & Giovanni Malerba & Elisabetta Trabetti & Hou-Feng Zheng & Giovanni Gambaro & J. Brent Richards, 2015. "Improved imputation of low-frequency and rare variants using the UK10K haplotype reference panel," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, November.
    2. Clare Bycroft & Colin Freeman & Desislava Petkova & Gavin Band & Lloyd T. Elliott & Kevin Sharp & Allan Motyer & Damjan Vukcevic & Olivier Delaneau & Jared O’Connell & Adrian Cortes & Samantha Welsh &, 2018. "The UK Biobank resource with deep phenotyping and genomic data," Nature, Nature, vol. 562(7726), pages 203-209, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. von Hinke, Stephanie & Sørensen, Emil N., 2023. "The long-term effects of early-life pollution exposure: Evidence from the London smog," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    nutrition; food consumption; gene-environment interplay; education; developmental origins;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • D45 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Rationing; Licensing

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