TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparing the relationship between stature and later life health in six low and middle income countries
AU - McGovern, Mark E.
PY - 2014/12
Y1 - 2014/12
N2 - This paper examines the relationship between stature and later life health in 6 emerging economies, each
of which are expected to experience significant increases in the mean age of their populations over the
coming decades. Using data from the WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) and pilot
data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), I show that various measures of health are associated
with height, a commonly used proxy for childhood environment. In the pooled sample, a 10 cm
increase in height is associated with between a 2 and 3 percentage point increase in the probability of
being in very good or good self-reported health, a 3 percentage point increase in the probability of reporting
no difficulties with activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living, and between a
fifth and a quarter of a standard deviation increase in grip strength and lung function. Adopting a methodology
previously used in the research on inequality, I also summarise the height-grip strength gradient
for each country using the concentration index, and provide a decomposition analysis.
AB - This paper examines the relationship between stature and later life health in 6 emerging economies, each
of which are expected to experience significant increases in the mean age of their populations over the
coming decades. Using data from the WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) and pilot
data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), I show that various measures of health are associated
with height, a commonly used proxy for childhood environment. In the pooled sample, a 10 cm
increase in height is associated with between a 2 and 3 percentage point increase in the probability of
being in very good or good self-reported health, a 3 percentage point increase in the probability of reporting
no difficulties with activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living, and between a
fifth and a quarter of a standard deviation increase in grip strength and lung function. Adopting a methodology
previously used in the research on inequality, I also summarise the height-grip strength gradient
for each country using the concentration index, and provide a decomposition analysis.
U2 - 10.1016/j.jeoa.2014.09.011
DO - 10.1016/j.jeoa.2014.09.011
M3 - Article
SN - 2212-828X
VL - 4
SP - 128
EP - 148
JO - The Journal of the Economics of Ageing
JF - The Journal of the Economics of Ageing
ER -