Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T19:39:53.501Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bigger babies born to women survivors of the 1959–1961 Chinese famine: a puzzle due to survival selection?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2010

C. Huang ,
Z. Li ,
K. M. Venkat Narayan ,
D. F. Williamson  and
R. Martorell
C. Huang
Affiliation:
Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta GA, USA
Z. Li
Affiliation:
The National Center for Maternal and Infant Health, Department of Health Care Epidemiology, Beijing University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
K. M. Venkat Narayan
Affiliation:
Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta GA, USA
D. F. Williamson
Affiliation:
Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta GA, USA
R. Martorell*
Affiliation:
Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta GA, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: R. Martorell, PhD, Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University; 1599 Clifton Road, NE, 6-407, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. (Email rmart77@emory.edu)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Chinese Famine of 1959–1961 caused up to 30 million deaths. It varied in intensity across China and affected rural areas disproportionately. Data from the China–U.S. Collaborative Project for Neural Tube Defect Prevention on 31, 449 women (born 1957–1963) and their offspring birth size were recorded in 1993–1996. We used a measure of famine intensity at county level based on the size of famine-born cohorts relative to cohorts preceding and following the famine in a difference-in-difference model that compared offspring birth size of pre-famine (1957–1958; exposed between 0.5 and 4.5 years), famine (1959–1961; prenatal and up to 2.5 years) and post-famine (1962; some exposed in early pregnancy) cohort groups to that of the unexposed 1963 cohort. The model corrected for age and cohort trends and estimated associations between maternal famine exposure and offspring birth size for the average level of famine intensity across counties, and included adjustment for clustering. In rural areas and in pre-famine and famine cohorts, exposure to famine was associated with larger weight (69 g; 95% CI 30, 108), length (0.3 cm; 95% CI −0.0, 0.5) and birth body mass index (0.1 kg/m2; 95% CI 0.0, 0.2). In urban areas, however, exposure to famine was not associated with offspring birth size. Our findings in rural areas suggest that severe and prolonged famine leads to larger newborn size in the offspring of mothers exposed to famine in utero and during the first few years of life; less severe famine in urban areas however, appeared to have no impact. The markedly increased mortality in rural areas may have resulted in the selection of hardier mothers with greater growth potential, which becomes expressed in their offspring.

Keywords

birth sizeChinese famine (1959–1961)intergenerational effectssurvival selection
Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 1 , Issue 6 , December 2010 , pp. 412 - 418
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Ashton, B, Hill, K, Piazza, A, Zeitz, R. Famine in China, 1958–61. Popul Dev Rev. 1984; 10, 613–645.Google Scholar
2. Smil, V. China’s great famine: 40 years later. BMJ. 1999; 319, 1619–1621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Chang, GH, Wen, GJ. Communal dining and the Chinese famine of 1958–1961. Econ Dev Cult Change. 1997; 46, 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Chen, Y, Zhou, LA. The long-term health and economic consequences of the 1959–1961 famine in China. J Health Econ. 2007; 26, 659–681.Google Scholar
5. Lin, JY, Yang, DT. Food availability, entitlements and the Chinese famine of 1959–61. Econ J. 2000; 110, 136–158.Google Scholar
6. Li, W, Yang, DT. The Great Leap Forward: anatomy of a central planning disaster. J Polit Econ. 2005; 113, 840–877.Google Scholar
7. Becker, J (ed.) Hungry Ghosts. Mao’s Secret Famine, 1998. Henry Holt & Company, Inc., New York.Google Scholar
8. Lumey, LH, Stein, AD, Kahn, HS, et al. Cohort profile: the Dutch Hunger winter families study. Int J Epidemiol. 2007; 36, 1196–1204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. Lumey, LH, Stein, AD. Offspring birth weights after maternal intrauterine undernutrition: a comparison within sibships. Am J Epidemiol. 1997; 146, 810–819.Google Scholar
10. Stein, AD, Kahn, HS, Rundle, A, Zybert, PA, van der Pal-de Bruin, K, Lumey, LH. Anthropometric measures in middle age after exposure to famine during gestation: evidence from the Dutch famine. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007; 85, 869–876.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11. Lumey, LH, Stein, AD, Ravelli, AC. Timing of prenatal starvation in women and birth weight in their first and second born offspring: the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort study. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 1995; 61, 23–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Berry, RJ, Li, Z. Folic acid alone prevents neural tube defects: evidence from the China study. Epidemiology. 2002; 13, 114–116.Google Scholar
13. Berry, RJ, Li, Z, Erickson, JD, et al. Prevention of neural-tube defects with folic acid in China. China–US Collaborative Project for Neural Tube Defect Prevention. N Eng J Med. 1999; 341, 1485–1490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14. Huang, C, Li, Z, Wang, M, Martorell, R. Early life exposure to the 1959–61 Chinese famine has long-term health consequences. J Nutr. 2010; 140, 1874–1878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Song, S, Wang, W, Hu, P. Famine, death, and madness: schizophrenia in early adulthood after prenatal exposure to the Chinese Great Leap Forward Famine. Soc Sci Med. 2009; 8, 1315–1321.Google Scholar
16. St Clair, D, Xu, M, Wang, P, et al. Rates of adult schizophrenia following prenatal exposure to the Chinese famine of 1959–1961. JAMA. 2005; 294, 557–562.Google Scholar
17. Xu, M-Q, Sun, W-S, Liu, B-X, et al. Prenatal malnutrition and adult schizophrenia: further evidence from the 1959–1961 Chinese famine. Schizophr Bull. 2009; 35, 568–576.Google Scholar
18. Susser, E, Hoek, HW, Brown, A. Neurodevelopmental disorders after prenatal famine. The story of the Dutch Famine study. Am J Epidemiol. 1998; 147, 213–216.Google Scholar
19. Gørgens, T, Meng, X, Vaithianathan, R. Stunting and selection effects of famine: a case study of the Great Chinese Famine. IZA Discussion Paper no. 2543. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany. (ftp://repec.iza.org/RePEc/Discussionpaper/dp2543.pdf).Google Scholar
20. Bozzoli, C, Deaton, A, Quintana-Domeque, C. Adult height and childhood disease. Demography. 2009; 46, 647–669.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21. Behrman, JR, Calderon, MC, Preston, SH, Hoddinott, J, Martorell, R, Stein, AD. Nutritional supplementation in girls influences the growth of their children: prospective study in Guatemala. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009; 90, 1372–1379.Google Scholar
22. Lin, J, Wang, G, Zhao, Y. Regional inequality and labor transfers in China. Econ Dev Cult Change. 2004; 52, 587–603.Google Scholar
23. Chan, KW, Zhang, L. The Hukou system and rural-urban migration in China: processes and changes. China Q. 1999; 160, 818–855.Google Scholar