RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Growth failure is associated with adverse consequences, but studies need to control adequately for confounding. OBJECTIVE: We related height-for-age z scores (HAZs) and stunting at age 24 mo to adult human capital, marriage, fertility, health, and economic outcomes. DESIGN: In 2002-2004, we collected data from 1338 Guatemalan adults (aged 25-42 y) who were studied as children in 1969-1977. We used instrumental variable regression to correct for estimation bias and adjusted for potentially confounding factors. RESULTS: A 1-SD increase in HAZ was associated with more schooling (0.78 grades) and higher test scores for reading and nonverbal cognitive skills (0.28 and 0.25 SDs, respectively), characteristics of marriage partners (1.39 y older, 1.02 grade more schooling, and 1.01 cm taller) and, for women, a higher age at first birth (0.77 y) and fewer number of pregnancies and children (0.63 and 0.43, respectively). A 1-SD increase in HAZ was associated with increased household per capita expenditure (21%) and a lower probability of living in poverty (10 percentage points). Conversely, being stunted at 2 y was associated with less schooling, a lower test performance, a lower household per capita expenditure, and an increased probability of living in poverty. For women, stunting was associated with a lower age at first birth and higher number of pregnancies and children. There was little relation between either HAZ or stunting and adult health. CONCLUSION: Growth failure in early life has profound adverse consequences over the life course on human, social, and economic capital.
Asunto(s)
Envejecimiento/fisiología , Insuficiencia de Crecimiento/epidemiología , Trastornos del Crecimiento/epidemiología , Adulto , Estatura/fisiología , Niño , Preescolar , Escolaridad , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Guatemala/epidemiología , Humanos , Masculino , Pobreza , Ensayos Clínicos Controlados Aleatorios como AsuntoRESUMEN
This article examines marriage patterns among individuals who participated as children in a nutrition supplementation trial in Guatemala and were followed up in 2002-04, at ages 25-42 years. Of all 1,062 known and alive couples, 735, or 69%, responded fully to the marriage assets questionnaire. Focus of the analysis is on the birth cohorts born prior to 1974, a total of 1,058 intervention participants, among whom four-fifths of men (82%) and of women (78%) were married at the time of the 2002-04 survey. Basic patterns are examined in current marital status, age at first marriage and related milestones, human capital assets brought to marriage (e.g., schooling attainment, cognitive ability, literacy, and pre-marital work experience), and physical assets and savings accounts brought to marriage. Measures of husbands' human capital at marriage are positively correlated with wives' human capital, but are consistently higher. Husbands also bring substantially more physical and financial assets than wives. A number of interesting patterns emerge, including (1) changes in the composition of assets that women bring to marriage from physical to human assets, (2) declining gaps in age and premarital work experience between husbands and wives, and (3) increasing gaps in schooling attainment and cognitive ability between husbands and wives. Given conflicting directions of change in spousal gaps in human, physical and financial assets, their net effect on changes over time in the bargaining power of husbands and wives is uncertain and deserves further investigation.
Asunto(s)
Escolaridad , Empleo , Matrimonio , Adulto , Estudios de Cohortes , Demografía , Divorcio , Composición Familiar , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Guatemala , Humanos , Masculino , Distribución por Sexo , Clase Social , Factores Socioeconómicos , Esposos/estadística & datos numéricos , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
Quantity and quality of schooling obtained and the resulting skills and knowledge acquired are important components of human capital. We describe the distribution of selected measures of schooling, educational achievement, and cognitive functioning among individuals who participated as children in a nutrition supplementation trial in Guatemala and were followed up in 2002-04. Among 1,469 respondents (response rate 80%), who were 26-41 years of age in 2003, more than 90% of men and women had attended at least some school; more than half of men and more than one-third of women had completed sixth grade. Schooling attainment of both men and women has increased across birth cohorts but the schooling gap between men and women has increased. Parental socioeconomic status, as measured in 1975, is a strong predictor of schooling attainment. Basic literacy is high among those studied, with more than 80% able to read simple sentences. The gap in educational achievement favoring men narrowed across birth cohorts due to increases among younger women. The greater performance among men on the Raven's Progressive Matrices test persisted despite increased scores in the younger birth cohorts for both men and women. Migrants to Guatemala City have completed more years of school and scored higher on the tests of educational achievement and cognitive functioning than have cohort members who have remained in the study villages.