Last updated December 2010
Abstract:
Developing countries today face the paradoxical dual burden of malnutrition and obesity. It has been hypothesized
that early childhood malnutrition leads to a higher risk of adult obesity, although evidence is mixed. I study the
health outcomes and health behaviors of 30-to-45-year-olds who were born during the 1959 to 1961 Chinese Famine.
I find that women who were exposed to famine as infants have a higher BMI (0.84 kg/m2) and are more likely to be
obese (by 5 percentage points) than women who were not exposed to famine. The effect of famine exposure increases
along the BMI distribution. I do not find significant effects on obesity for men. I also find no evidence that the
increase in BMI is differentially greater for the famine cohorts who are exposed to a food-rich environment in later
life than for the famine cohorts who are not. Using detailed individual-level data on food intake and physical activities,
I show that the increase in BMI for famine-exposed women is not due to higher fat intakes nor to more sedentary
lifestyles. A biological rather than a behavioral mechanism appears to underlie the association between early
childhood malnutrition and adult obesity.
Contact Information:
Winnie Fung,
winnie.fung@wheaton.edu, Wheaton College