In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time: Health disparities, mortality, and off-spring effects of exposure to the Dutch Famine.
Open Access
- Author:
- Ramirez, Daniel Nicholas
- Graduate Program:
- Sociology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 01, 2020
- Committee Members:
- Steven Andrew Haas, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Steven Andrew Haas, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Molly Martin, Committee Member
Jonathan Kyle Daw, Committee Member
Brian Clemens Thiede, Outside Member
Eric P Baumer, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Dutch famine
early life
population heatlh
aging
life course - Abstract:
- To study the long-term effects of early-life exposure to famine, it is necessary to analyze a large enough sample that provides respondents’ information “from the womb to the tomb”. As a result, very few studies have been able to trace the effects of exposure to malnutrition beyond immediate death tolls. Important research questions regarding the consequences of famine exposure remain largely unanswered, as the literature is either unable to provide empirically valid assessments or presents contradicting evidence. What are the long-term health and socioeconomic consequences of early-life exposure to famine? Does such exposure lead to hastened mortality? Are famine exposure effects transmitted across generations or are they limited to the initially exposed generation? This dissertation’s contribution revolves around answering such questions by focusing on respondents exposed to the Dutch Hunger Winter. To study this phenomenon I make use of unique non-publicly available data provided by Microdata CBS. The core of the data used in the study is a combination of population registries that allows identifying individuals’ place of birth within the Netherlands as well as their date of birth. Utilizing these two sources of information, I am able to determine whether individuals resided in a famine area and exactly at what age -including in-utero stages. In order to serve particular questions regarding health conditions in late life within the dissertation, I combine the aforementioned population registries with a large-scale health survey known as GEMON—also known as the Adult and Elderly Health Monitor. In order to gauge consequences on mortality, I combine the aforementioned population registries with the Dutch mortality database—otherwise known as DO. Furthermore, Microdata CBS provides linkage information between parents and offspring, allowing them to relate parental exposure to famine to the health of their offspring. Ultimately, this dissertation provides a significant contribution to the life course and health disparities literature.