(applicant s abstract): Recent work in demography and epidemiology has emphasized the importance of early life experiences for mortality and longevity. This project will use population registers following individuals for as long as 90 years to examine the effects of community, household, and individual-level measures of food scarcity and disease exposure. A pilot study found strong associations between conditions in childhood, adult stature, and mortality at older ages. This project will expand the pilot to include a sample of rural and urban areas in a region experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization. In addition to comparing mortality among these localities, migrants who experienced different epidemiological environments at different ages will be studied. This will help to identify the long-run effects of poor diet and exposure to disease in different stages of the life course.
| Alter, George; Dribe, Martin; Van Poppel, Frans (2007) Widowhood, family size, and post-reproductive mortality: a comparative analysis of three populations in nineteenth-century Europe. Demography 44:785-806 |
| Alter, George; Oris, Michel (2005) Childhood conditions, migration, and mortality: migrants and natives in 19th-century cities. Soc Biol 52:178-91 |
| Dribe, Martin (2004) Long-term effects of childbearing on mortality: evidence from pre-industrial Sweden. Popul Stud (Camb) 58:297-310 |
| Alter, George (2004) Height, frailty, and the standard of living: modelling the effects of diet and disease on declining mortality and increasing height. Popul Stud (Camb) 58:265-79 |
| Bengtsson, Tommy; Lindstrom, Martin (2003) Airborne infectious diseases during infancy and mortality in later life in southern Sweden, 1766-1894. Int J Epidemiol 32:286-94 |
