The Dutch Famine ('Hunger Winter') of 1944-1945 provides a unique opportunity to identify early life determinants of life course health and well-being. To date, studies have concentrated on health and mortality outcomes in ~45,000 army recruits who were examined at age 18 in the early 1960s. Famine exposure in these men can be inferred from place and date of birth. Funding is now requested to link a wide variety of socio-economic outcomes (employment, wages, and disability benefits) from government sources to our studied population. The study is collaboration between epidemiologists and demographers and economists (Dr. Heckman, University of Chicago). The newly linked data will be analyzed with state-of-the-art epidemiologic and econometric approaches to reliably identify, estimate, and interpret the effects of an early life shock throughout the lifecycle. This work will integrate currently separated research traditions from the medical and social sciences and lead to a better understanding of 'fetal programming' and its implications.

Public Health Relevance

In this study we will utilize the unique quasi-experimental setting of the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-45 for a collaborative study of epidemiologists, demographers, and economists to study long term health and economic outcomes after disruptions in early life. The study includes data linkages across multiple outcome domains and state-of-the art analytic approaches to integrate currently separated research traditions from the medical and social sciences. This will lead to a better understanding of 'fetal programming' and its implications.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01AG028593-06
Application #
8816986
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (SSPB)
Program Officer
Patmios, Georgeanne E
Project Start
2006-07-01
Project End
2016-12-31
Budget Start
2015-02-15
Budget End
2015-12-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
$506,291
Indirect Cost
$135,065
Name
Columbia University (N.Y.)
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
621889815
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10032
Ekamper, Peter; Bijwaard, Govert; van Poppel, Frans et al. (2017) War-related excess mortality in The Netherlands, 1944-45: New estimates of famine- and non-famine-related deaths from national death records. Hist Methods 50:113-128
Stradford, Laura; van Poppel, Frans; Lumey, L H (2017) Can resource dilution explain differences in height by birth order and family size? A study of 389,287 male recruits in twentieth-century Netherlands. Hist Fam 22:214-235
Lumey, L H; Khalangot, Mykola D; Vaiserman, Alexander M (2015) Association between type 2 diabetes and prenatal exposure to the Ukraine famine of 1932-33: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 3:787-94
Ekamper, Peter; van Poppel, Frans; Stein, Aryeh D et al. (2015) Prenatal famine exposure and adult mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other causes through age 63 years. Am J Epidemiol 181:271-9
Huang, Ying; van Poppel, Frans; Lumey, L H (2015) Differences in height by education among 371,105 Dutch military conscripts. Econ Hum Biol 17:202-7
Bijwaard, Govert E; van Poppel, Frans; Ekamper, Peter et al. (2015) Gains in Life Expectancy Associated with Higher Education in Men. PLoS One 10:e0141200
Ekamper, P; van Poppel, F; Stein, A D et al. (2014) Independent and additive association of prenatal famine exposure and intermediary life conditions with adult mortality between age 18-63 years. Soc Sci Med 119:232-9
Lumey, L H; Stein, Aryeh D; Susser, Ezra (2011) Prenatal famine and adult health. Annu Rev Public Health 32:237-62
Stein, Aryeh D; Kahn, Henry S; Lumey, L H (2010) The 2D:4D digit ratio is not a useful marker for prenatal famine exposure: Evidence from the Dutch hunger winter families study. Am J Hum Biol 22:801-6
Stein, Aryeh D; Rundle, Andrew; Wada, Nikolas et al. (2009) Associations of gestational exposure to famine with energy balance and macronutrient density of the diet at age 58 years differ according to the reference population used. J Nutr 139:1555-61