Early-life conditions and adult mortality decline in Dutch cohorts born 1812–1921

TY - JOUR

T1 - Early-life conditions and adult mortality decline in Dutch cohorts born 1812–1921

AU - Schellekens, J.

AU - van Poppel, F.W.A.

N1 - Accepted: 1 February 2016.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - adult mortality

KW - early-life conditions

KW - height

KW - infant mortality

KW - early-childhood mortality

KW - SSCI

U2 - 10.1080/00324728.2016.1223336

DO - 10.1080/00324728.2016.1223336

M3 - Article

SN - 0032-4728

VL - 70

SP - 327

EP - 343

JO - Population Studies: a journal of demography

JF - Population Studies: a journal of demography

IS - 3

ER -