Transgenerational Effects of Childhood Conditions on Third Generation Health and Education Outcomes

Abstract

General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Phone: +49-621-181-1923; Fax: +49-228-73-9239. AbstractThis paper examines the extent to which pre-puberty nutritional conditions in one generation affect productivity-related outcomes in later generations. Recent findings from the biological literature suggest that the so-called slow growth period around age 9 is a sensitive period for male germ cell development. We build on this evidence and investigate whether undernutrition at those ages transmits to children and grandchildren. Our findings indicate that third generation males (females) tend to have higher mental health scores if their paternal grandfather (maternal grandmother) was exposed to a famine during the slow growth period. These effects appear to reflect biological responses to adaptive expectations about scarcity in the environment, and as such they can be seen as an economic correctional mechanism in evolution, with marked socio-economic implications for the offspring.

Grandparents childhood exposures and religious belief in their granddaughters: possible transgenerational associations

“…In general, such outcomes have been marked by a changing prevalence over time. They have also been shown to be associated with ancestral exposures to toxins such as DDT pesticides [11], and stressors such as famine and war [12,13].…”

“…Since the prevalence of spirituality/religiosity shows a dramatic change over time, in this paper we investigate whether there is any evidence indicating possible intragenetic or transgenetic associations involving either exposures to cigarette smoking or traumatic events in previous generations. Since other studies have shown the pre-pubertal ages to be of particular importance [e.g., 13,14], we have ensured that such apparently susceptible ages of the grandparents at exposure are considered in the analyses.…”

Intergenerational transmission of paternal trauma among US Civil War ex-POWs

“…Studying paternal mechanisms in human populations requires disentangling socioeconomic, biological, and psychological or cultural effects and maternal and paternal stressors. Research thus has focused on the third generation, but sample sizes are small ( 20 , 25 , 26 ) or lifespans incomplete ( 27 ). We have complete lifespans and detailed information on the socioeconomic and family structure for 4,593 children of 1,407 former POWs and 15,310 children of 4,960 non-POW veterans.…”

Risk of eating disorders in international adoptees: a cohort study using Swedish national population registers

“…Studies of the effects of historical events such as the Dutch Hunger Winter 1944–45 or the Chinese Great Leap Forward Famine 1959–61 on physical and mental health have shown an association between prenatal famine and adult body size, diabetes mellitus, and schizophrenia (Lumey et al ., 2011). There are also indications (including studies on historical data from Överkalix in northern Sweden) that these effects may be epigenetically transferred across generations (Kaati et al ., 2007; van den Berg and Pinger, 2016). Early malnutrition, as well as other early-life adversities, can induce long-term alterations in the metabolic and neuroendocrine systems that increase vulnerability to stress and obesity risk throughout life (Sawaya et al ., 2004; Yam et al ., 2015); such mechanisms could in theory also be involved in the development of eating disorders.…”