Gradients of the Intergenerational Transmission of Health in Developing Countries

Abstract

This paper investigates the sensitivity of the intergenerational transmission of health to changes in the socioeconomic and public health environment into which children are born using individual survey data on 2.24 million children born to 600,000 mothers during the period 1970 to 2000 in 38 developing countries merged by country and cohort with macroeconomic data. We find that children are more likely to bear the penalty exerted by poor maternal health if they are conceived or born in adverse socioeconomic conditions. Equivalently, shocks to the child's birth environment are more damaging of children born to women with weaker health at birth.

Intergenerational correlations of health among older adults: Empirical evidence from Indonesia

“…Currie and Moretti (2007) have found weaker intergenerational correlations of health in the United States for parents born in better off areas. Bhalotra and Rawlings (2009) have found a similar result using cross-country evidence.…”

“…Of particular interest for this study, both Currie and Moretti (2007) and Bhalotra and Rawlings (2009) find that the intergenerational correlations of health are weaker when the mothers were born in higher income areas. This suggests substitution between conditions when the mother was a child and intergenerational transmission.…”

Adolescence and the next generation

“…Iron and other micronutrient requirements increase sharply at puberty, particularly for girls with the onset of menstruation, so that in younger adolescents anaemia is the leading cause of global disease burden 14 . Adolescent anaemia is commonly a result of iron and other micronutrient deficiencies and is therefore a useful indicator of nutritional status 38,39 . Figure 2a and Extended Data Figure 2 show rates of anaemia across the years of transition to first parenthood.…”

The intergenerational transmission of BMI in China

“…Using US data, Thompson (2013) also finds that the intergenerational transmission of health is stronger among families of low SES. Based on individual survey data on 2.24 million children born to 600,000 mothers over the period from 1970 to 2000 in 38 developing countries, Bhalotra and Rawlings (2013) find children of shorter mothers, or mothers with poorer health at birth, are more sensitive to changes in the socioeconomic environment, and their survival rate is lower. We examine the intergenerational transmission of adiposity with respect to income, education and occupation of the parents as well as across the age of the child and with respect to the distribution of child BMI.…”