Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Paper Series,
IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy
No 2023:5: Prenatal sugar consumption and late-life human capital and health: analyses based on postwar rationing and polygenic indices
Gerard J. van den Berg (), Stephanie von Hinke () and R. Adele H. Wang
Additional contact information
Gerard J. van den Berg: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Stephanie von Hinke: School of Economics, University of Bristol
R. Adele H. Wang: School of Economics, University of Bristol.
Abstract: Maternal sugar consumption in utero may have a variety of effects on offspring. We exploit the abolishment of the rationing of sweet confectionery in the UK on April 24, 1949, and its subsequent reintroduction some months later, in an era of otherwise uninterrupted rationing of confectionery (1942-1953), sugar (1940-1953) and many other foods, and we consider effects on late-life cardiovascular disease, BMI, height, type-2 diabetes and the intake of sugar, fat and carbohydrates, as well as cognitive outcomes and birth weight. We use individual-level data from the UK Biobank for cohorts born between April 1947–May 1952. We also explore whether one’s genetic “predisposition” to the outcome can moderate the effects of prenatal sugar exposure. We find that prenatal exposure to derationing increases education and reduces BMI and sugar consumption at higher ages, in line with the “developmental origins” explanatory framework, and that the sugar effects are stronger for those who are genetically “predisposed” to sugar consumption.
Keywords: Nutrition; food consumption; gene-environment interplay; education; developmental origins
Language: English
48 pages, March 17, 2023
Full text files
wp-2023-5-prenatal-s...polygenic-scores.pdfFull text
- IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy
- Ordering Working Papers
- Home page for this series
Questions (including download problems) about the papers in this series should be directed to Ali Ghooloo ()
Report other problems with accessing this service to Sune Karlsson ().
RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2023_005This page generated on 2024-09-13 22:15:20.