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Resumen |
Background: Research on the long-term health consequences of early-life exposure to economic crises is scarce. We examine for the first time the long-term effects of early-life exposure to an economic crisis on metabolic health risks. We study objective health measures, and exploit the quasi-experimental situation of the postreunification economic crisis in East Germany. Methods: Data were drawn from two waves of the longitudinal German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (2003-2006, 2014-2017). We compared 392 East Germans who were exposed to the economic crisis in utero and at ages 0-5 with 1123 of their West German counterparts using propensity score matching on individual and family characteristics. We assessed blood pressure, cholesterol, blood fat and body mass index (BMI); both combined as above-average metabolic health risks and individually at ages 19-30. Results: Early-life exposure to the economic crisis significantly increased the number of above-average metabolic health risks in young adulthood by 0.1482 (95% CI 0.0169 to 0.2796), which was 5.8% higher compared with no exposure. Among individuals exposed in utero, only females showed significant effects. Early-life exposure to the economic crisis was associated with increased systolic (0.9969, 95% CI -0.2806 to 2.2743) and diastolic blood pressure (0.6786, 95% CI -0.0802 to 1.4373), and with increased BMI (0.0245, 95% CI -0.6516 to 0.7001). Conclusion: The increased metabolic health risks found for women exposed to the postreunification economic crisis in-utero are likely attributable to increased economic stress. While the observed differences are small, they may foreshadow the emergence of greater health disparities in older age. |
