Authors:
- Tests a tantalizing conjecture regarding mortality decline of the 20th century, early life conditions and older adult health in low and middle income countries.
- Uses a newly compiled cross national data set of over 144,000 older adults from 20 low, middle and high income countries in addition to using extensive historical data to test the conjecture
- Adds to the knowledge regarding early life events and older adult health
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book examines the long term consequences of improvements in life expectancy in the mid 20th century which are partly responsible for the growth of the elderly population in the developing world.  Rapid demographic changes in child and infant mortality due to the reduction in and better treatment of disease were not often accompanied by parallel increases in standard of living. Lower mortality led to greater survival by those who had suffered poor early life conditions. As a consequence, the early life of these survivors may explain older adult health and in particular the projected increase in adult health disease and diabetes. Recent dietary changes may only compound such early life effects.  This study presents findings from historical and survey data on nearly 147,000 older adults in 20 low-, middle- and high-income countries which suggest that the survivors of poor early life conditions born during the 1930s-1960s are susceptible to disease later in life, specifically diabetes and heart disease. As the evidence that the aging process is shaped throughout the entire life course increases, this book adds to the knowledge regarding early life events and older adult health.
Keywords
- Adult health disease and diabetes
- Changes in child and infant mortality
- Chronic conditions (heart disease, diabetes, obesity)
- Cross national survey data
- Determinants of older adult health
- Early life conditions
- Effects poor early life conditions on adult health
- Functionality and disability
- Growth of the elderly population
- Improvements in life expectancy
- Mortality regimes in the 20th century
- Older adult health in Low and Middle Income Countries
- Older adult population across mortality regimes
- Population studies of older adults
- Public health initiatives and medical technology
- Reduction and better treatment of disease
- Susceptible to disease later in life
- Well-being of older adults
- maternal and child health
Authors and Affiliations
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Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Mary McEniry
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Early Life Conditions and Rapid Demographic Changes in the Developing World
Book Subtitle: Consequences for Older Adult Health
Authors: Mary McEniry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6979-3
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. 2014
Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-007-6978-6Published: 18 November 2013
Softcover ISBN: 978-94-017-7872-5Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-94-007-6979-3Published: 04 November 2013
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 216
Number of Illustrations: 33 b/w illustrations
Topics: Demography, Aging, Public Health, Maternal and Child Health