Differences in the evolution of mortality in the developing world during the 20th century will have important implications for elderly health status for at least the next 20 to 30 years. Due to the particular nature of mortality decline in the developing world, we hypothesize that early life conditions have important effects on later adult health in these countries and that the effects are more salient in some types of demographic regimes than in others. The proposed research assesses the relation between early childhood conditions and adult morbidity and mortality among different demographic regimes in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC), Asian and African elderly populations, using as benchmarks data from relevant industrialized elderly populations such as the US, UK and Taiwan. The research builds upon preliminary results obtained among the LAC elderly. Continuing with this work, we test guiding hypotheses using comparable cross national and panel data in health outcomes (self-reported health, functional limitations, obesity, chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, and mortality), early childhood conditions (height, knee height, month of birth, SES during childhood, childhood health), adult SES (income, education) and adult lifestyle (smoking, diet, drinking). We use multivariate analyses to examine health profiles, determinants of health status and individual health transitions. We also incorporate procedures such as vignettes to adjust for under (over) reporting of health; try new estimation procedures for the over (under) reporting of health conditions and procedures to adjust for differential survival in chronic diseases; and use Waaler-type surfaces to estimate expected relative mortality risk. This 5-year K25 project provides support for a PhD industrial engineer to make a successful career transition from applied public and business sectors to future independent research in health demography among aging populations in the developing world and/or in cross-cultural U.S. settings. K25 provides the stimulus to meet the candidate's specific aims in career development: (1) learn from the extensive experience of a committee of seasoned mentors from UW-Madison's CDE/CDHA in health demography and economics in aging populations through timely cross-national research; (2) augment competency in advanced quantitative health demography and epidemiology through formalized study.
| McEniry, M (2013) Early-life conditions and older adult health in low- and middle-income countries: a review. J Dev Orig Health Dis 4:10-29 |
| McEniry, Mary (2011) Infant mortality, season of birth and the health of older Puerto Rican adults. Soc Sci Med 72:1004-15 |
| McEnry, Mry; Palloni, Alberto (2010) Early life exposures and the occurrence and timing of heart disease among the older adult Puerto Rican population. Demography 47:23-43 |
| McEniry, Mary; Palloni, Alberto; Davila, Ana Luisa et al. (2008) Early life exposure to poor nutrition and infectious diseases and its effects on the health of older Puerto Rican adults. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 63:S337-48 |
