Title:	Early Life Conditions and Rapid Demographic Changes in the Developing World
Authors:	Mary McEnir
Keywords:	Early Life Conditions
Issue Date:	2014
Publisher:	Springer
Description:	There was a dramatic improvement in life expectancy during the twentieth century, especially for those born between the 1930s and 1960s, primarily due to reductions in infant and child mortality. Widespread public health interventions including advancements in medical technology helped alleviate poor early life conditions – serious infectious diseases, poor nutrition, and harsh living environments – by reducing exposure to disease and treating it more effectively.1 In some developing countries, this happened largely in the absence of improved standards of living.2 The dramatic increase in life expectancy was one of the demographic transitions of the early twentieth century3 and partially explains the growth of aging populations throughout the world, in particular in low- and middle-income countries in the early twenty-first century.4 This growth is projected to increase the burden of disease due to chronic conditions such as adult heart disease and diabetes—conditions which in some instances originate in early life5 —as populations age.6 This book examines the degree to which these historical circumstances produced cohorts largely characterized by increased survival of poor early life conditions which are, as a result, more susceptible at older ages to adult heart disease, diabetes, and higher mortality. The unfolding story encompasses a wide spectrum of low-, middle- and high-income countries that had different patterns of mortality decline leading into the 1930s–1960s.7 These different patterns not only tell a story of the relevance of poor early life conditions to the health of older adults, but also how a series of historical circumstances may have led to unintended consequences (beyond the positive intended consequences of better health through improved sanitation, better health education, and improved medical technology) and may shape the health of older adults in some settings well into the future.
URI:	http://10.6.20.12:80/handle/123456789/52671
ISBN:	978-94-007-6979-3
Appears in Collections:	Population Studies

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