Childhood Starvation Research Articles

Leisure Activity, Childhood Starvation, and Risk of Incident Diabetes in Older Adults: Evidence from a Chinese Nationwide Cohort Study

ObjectiveThis study explores the impact of leisure activity and the association between childhood starvation and the risk of diabetes in older Chinese adults. DesignProspective cohort study based on the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study (CLHLS), a nationwide cohort study in China. Setting and participantsA total of 4637 older adults aged ≥65 years, all with documented diabetes history, experiences of childhood starvation, and participation in leisure activities were recruited. MethodsChildhood starvation exposure was assessed via self-reported responses from a structured questionnaire. The leisure activities were measured by 9 distinctive components and categorized into 3 distinct categories: productive activity, recreational activity, and sedentary activity. Diabetes status was determined by self-reported, physician-diagnosed cases during the follow-up period. Nonparametric survival models were employed for analysis. ResultsOver an average follow-up period of 4.3 years, 215 of 4637 participants (4.6%) reported a confirmed diagnosis of diabetes. Nonparametric survival models showed that those reporting childhood starvation had a higher risk of late-life diabetes [hazard ratio (HR) 1.72, 95% CI 1.21-2.44]. Engaging in productive activity (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83-0.99) and recreational activity (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.77-1.00) was linked with a reduced risk of late-life diabetes. Sedentary activity did not show a significant effect. Further analysis highlighted the interactions effects of leisure activities on diabetes risk across different demographic and historical exposure subgroups. Conclusions and implicationsEngaging in productive and recreational leisure activities was inversely associated with the risk of diabetes in older adults who experienced childhood starvation. Promoting such activities could be beneficial in mitigating long-term diabetes risk related to early-life nutritional deficiencies.

Transgenerational and intergenerational effects of early childhood famine exposure in the cohort of offspring of Leningrad Siege survivors

Famine exposure during early life development can affect disease risk in late-life period, yet, transmission of phenotypic features from famine-exposed individuals to the next generations has not been well characterized. The purpose of our case–control study was to investigate the association of parental starvation in the perinatal period and the period of early childhood with the phenotypic features observed in two generations of descendants of Leningrad siege survivors. We examined 54 children and 30 grandchildren of 58 besieged Leningrad residents who suffered from starvation in early childhood and prenatal age during the Second World War. Controls from the population-based national epidemiological ESSE-RF study (n = 175) were matched on sex, age and body mass index (BMI). Phenotypes of controls and descendants (both generations, children and grandchildren separately) were compared, taking into account multiple testing. Comparison of two generations descendants with corresponding control groups revealed significantly higher creatinine and lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR), both in meta-analysis and in independent analyses. The mean values of GFR for all groups were within the normal range (GFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 was recorded in 2 controls and no one in DLSS). Additionally, independent of the creatinine level, differences in the eating pattern were detected: insufficient fish and excessive red meat consumption were significantly more frequent in the children of the Leningrad siege survivors compared with controls. Blood pressure, blood lipids and glucose did not differ between the groups. Parental famine exposure in early childhood may contribute to a decrease in kidney filtration capacity and altered eating pattern in the offspring of famine-exposed individuals.

Multi-State Analysis of the Impact of Childhood Starvation on the Healthy Life Expectancy of the Elderly in China.

Background: Child malnutrition is not only common in developing countries but also an important issue faced by developed countries. This study aimed to explore the influence and degree of childhood starvation on the health of the elderly, which provides a reference for formulating health-related policies under the concept of full lifecycle health.Methods: Based on the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2008, 2011, and 2014, this study took a total of 13,185 elderly people aged 65–99 years as the target population. By IMaCH software, with gender and income level as the control variables, the average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of the elderly were measured. The x2test was used to explore the differences in the socioeconomic status of elderly people with or without starvation in childhood. Statistical differences between average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were analyzed by rank tests.Results: (1) The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in age, gender, residency, education level, and income level between the groups with or without starvation (P < 0.05). (2) Transition probabilities in health–disability, health–death, and disability–death all showed an upward trend with age (P < 0.05), where the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were higher than those without such an experience (P < 0.05). However, the probability of disability–health recovery showed a downward trend with age (P < 0.05), in which the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were lower than those without starvation (P < 0.05). (3) For the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood, the health indicators of the average life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and healthy life expectancy proportion accounted for the remaining life were lower than those of the elderly without childhood starvation (P < 0.05).Conclusions: The average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of the elderly with childhood starvation are lower than those without childhood starvation. It shows that the negative impact of childhood starvation on health through the life course till old age has a persistent negative cumulative effect on the quantity and quality of life. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the nutritional status of children in poor families from the perspective of social policymaking.

Diabetes prevalence and risk factors of early-onset adult diabetes: results from the Indonesian family life survey

ABSTRACT Background Diabetes is increasing rapidly in South-East Asia. Studies have reported typical risk factors associated with all-age adult diabetes and highlighted the roles of economic transition and childhood development factors in diabetes in later life. However, little is known about whether these factors were associated with young adult diabetes risk. Objectives The study has two main aims: (1) estimate diabetes prevalence among adult participants of the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), and (2) identify childhood development factors associated with early-onset adult diabetes (diagnosed between age 20 and 40) in Indonesia. Methods Data were taken from adults participating in 4th and 5th IFLS (in 2007 and 2014) and linked to childhood history from previous surveys. Diabetes was ascertained from self-report and HbA1c testing in a subsample. Diabetes prevalence rates were estimated by age and source of diagnosis. Cox regression analysis was applied to assess potential risk factors for early-onset adult diabetes. Results A total of 34,767 participants were included in the study. Crude total prevalence estimate from self-report was 2,3% and increased with age. Including HbA1c measurements yielded nearly eight times higher prevalence estimates, depending on age. The proportion of yet undiagnosed cases is considerably higher in young age groups. Regression analyses showed that urban childhood residence and high education increased early-onset diabetes risk by 50–70%. Sex, childhood general health, socio-economic level and starvation exposure were not associated with early-onset diabetes risk. Conclusion Remarkable differences between diabetes prevalence rates based on self-report and HbA1c measurement indicated the need for better diagnosis, especially in young adults. Urban childhood residence and high education increased early-onset adult diabetes risk. Incorporating these factors and diabetes awareness in existing child health programs, together with screening of individuals at risk, could improve early diabetes detection and prevention strategies among young urban Indonesian adults.

WITHDRAWN: Multi-State Analysis of the Impact of Childhood Starvation on the Healthy Life Expectancy of the Elderly in China

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Does the duration of childhood starvation affect life at age 45 or older in China? The mediating role of socioeconomic and health statuses.

This study investigated the impact of the duration of childhood starvation experience on life satisfaction among Chinese people and examined whether and how socioeconomic and health statuses mediated this association. Data were derived from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, a nationwide social survey project that was conducted among Chinese individuals aged 45 or older in 2014. The results show that the duration of childhood starvation experience was significantly negatively associated with life satisfaction, and socioeconomic and health statuses mediated this relationship. The findings suggested that more interventions should be conducted among people who have experienced childhood starvation.

Linking early life risk factors to frailty in old age: evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

exposures in childhood and adolescence may impact the development of diseases and symptoms in late life. However, evidence from low- and middle-income countries is scarce. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the association of early life risk factors with frailty amongst older adults using a large, nationally representative cohort of community-dwelling Chinese sample. we included 6,806 participants aged $\ge$60years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. We measured 13 risk factors in childhood or adolescence through self-reports, encompassing six dimensions (education, family economic status, nutritional status, domestic violence, neighbourhood and health). We used multinomial regression models to examine the association between risk factors and frailty. We further calculated the absolute risk difference for the statistically significant factors. persons with higher personal and paternal education attainment, better childhood neighbourhood quality and better childhood health status had lower risk of being frail in old age. Severe starvation in childhood was associated with higher risk of prefrailty. The risk differences of being frail were 5.6% lower for persons with a high school or above education, 1.5% lower for those whose fathers were literate, 4.8% lower for the highest neighbourhood quality and 2.9% higher for worse childhood health status compared to their counterparts. unfavorable socioeconomic status and worse health condition in childhood and adolescence may increase the risk of late-life frailty amongst Chinese older adults.

Early Life Environments and Frailty in Old Age Among Chinese Older Adults

Exposures in childhood and adolescence may impact the development of diseases and symptoms in late life. However, evidence from low- and middle- income countries is scarce. In this study, we examined the association of early life risk factors with frailty among older adults using a large, nationally representative cohort of community-dwelling Chinese sample. 6,806 participants aged ≥60 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were included. We measured 13 risk factors in childhood or adolescence through self-reports, encompassing six dimensions (education, family economic status, nutritional status, domestic violence, neighborhood, and health). We used multinomial regression models to examine the association between risk factors and frailty and further calculated the absolute risk difference for the statistically significant factors. Results show that worse health condition in childhood and unfavorable childhood and adolescent socioeconomic status as measured by educational attainment and neighborhood quality may increase the risk of late-life frailty among Chinese older adults. Severe starvation in childhood was associated with higher risk of prefrailty. The risk differences of being frail were 5.7% lower for persons with a high school or above education, 1.5% lower for those whose fathers were literate, 4.8% lower for the highest neighborhood quality, and 2.9% higher for worse childhood health status compared to their counterparts.

Negative association between BMI and depressive symptoms in middle aged and elderly Chinese: Results from a national household survey

The association between body size and mental health has been the focus of many studies. Results, however, varies between studies. This study aimed to investigate the association between BMI and depressive symptoms among Chinese adults. We also further explored childhood starvation as a potential mediator of this association. The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study data, a representative national survey of adults age 45 and older was used in this study. Results showed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity were 28.8% and 11.6%. There was a negative association between BMI and depressive symptoms for males. Obese male adults had the lowest CES-D scores, followed by overweight male adults, and underweight male adults had the highest CES-D scores. These associations also exist but are not significant for females. Furthermore, these associations were significant among males who had been exposed to food shortage during their childhood. Our results suggested a significant positive association between BMI and depression in middle aged and elderly males in China, while this association is weak in females. Childhood food shortage experience was a potential causative factor accounting for this association.

Starvation in childhood and obesity in senior age

The problem of children's starvation remains relevant and actual at the present time, as in the 21st century experts from the leading countries of the world coordinate their efforts to create programs aimed at eliminating extreme poverty and hunger of. At the same time, the analysis of obesity prevalence typical for the population of some countries of the world, indicates an increase in the number of obese people in both economically developed and developing countries. In this article we are talking about the common severe degree of abdominal obesity in people of older age groups, survivors in childhood, long periods of fasting. Studied 594 history and Protocol of autopsy of people in older age groups, born from 1927 to 1941 and the dead on the hospital for war veterans in St. Petersburg from 1989 to 2000. The whole array of documents was structured by sex, age, the fact of living in the blockaded Leningrad. Severe degree of obesity was considered to be exceeded more than 7 cm of thickness of deep abdominal subcutaneous layer of adipose tissue. It is well established that former young residents of the besieged Leningrad, regardless of gender, age, die sooner than men and women in the comparison groups; men who survived long periods of starvation in children, were dying earlier than men in the comparison group and earlier than women of the main group; women who have experienced a long period of starvation before the age of 11 years, often dying because of cardiovascular diseases than women in the corresponding subgroup comparisons; the emergence of pronounced obesity in older age-governmental groups from the former young residents of the blockaded Leningrad, determined by elk not only the fact of prolonged fasting, but child sex and age, which accounted for starvation.

Glucose Tolerance Testing and Anthropometric Comparisons Among Rural Residents of Kyiv Region: Investigating the Possible Effect of Childhood Starvation-A Community-Based Study.

A relationship between childhood starvation and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) in adulthood was previously indicated. Ukraine suffered a series of artificial famines between 1921 and 1947. Famines of 1932 to 1933 and 1946 were most severe among them. Long-term health consequences of these famines remain insufficiently investigated. Type 2 diabetes mellitus screening was conducted between June 2013 and December 2014. A total of 198 rural residents of Kyiv region more than 44 years of age, not registered as patients with T2D, were randomly selected. In all, 159 persons answered the question about starvation of parental family, including 73 born before 1947. Among them, 62 persons answered positive. Anthropometric measurements and glucose tolerance tests were performed. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate results. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was detected in 7 of 62 persons (11.3%), who starved during childhood vs 6 of 11 (54.5%) who did not (P = .002), age-adjusted and sex-adjusted odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval): 0.063 (0.007-0.557). Analysis of the anthropometric data revealed a negative connection between adulthood height and neck circumference (cm, continued variables) and childhood starvation: age-adjusted and sex-adjusted ORs 0.86 (0.76-0.97) and 0.73 (0.54-0.97), respectively. Individuals who starved during famines of 1932 to 1933 and 1946 in Ukraine had a decreased T2D prevalence several decades after the famine episodes.

Starvation in early life — possible influence on the further health. Case report

Conditions of early development largely determine the occurrence of chronic diseases in the remote life period. The impairment of perinatal nutrition could promote the development of metabolic disorders and cardiovascular complications in the adult life. Metabolic status, arterial stiffness, target organ damage and genetic biomarker (telomere length of peripheral leucocytes) are described in two patients who survived the Siege of Leningrad during the Second World War in different periods of life. First patient underwent starvation at the age of 19 years; second one was born during siege of Leningrad. Baseline visit at V. A. Almazov Federal North-West Medical Research Centre was performed in 2011, the follow-up visit — after 3 years in 2014. Results suggest that intrauterine starvation (also additional impact during infant period) is associated with more significant cardiovascular damage in second patient who was born in besieged Leningrad and was not evacuated. The clinical cases demonstrate the long-term effects of starvation in childhood and biomarkers of aging depending on starvation period.

Hungry today, unhappy tomorrow? Childhood hunger and subjective wellbeing later in life

I use anchoring vignettes to show that, on data for eleven European countries, exposure to episodes of hunger in childhood leads people to adopt lower subjective standards to evaluate satisfaction with life in adulthood. I also show that, as a consequence, estimates of the association between childhood starvation and late-life wellbeing that do not allow for reporting heterogeneity are biased towards finding a positive correlation. These results highlight the need to consider rescaling when drawing inference on subjective outcomes.

Europe’s Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War, by Peter H. Wilson

A recent exhibition in Brandenburg an der Havel showed material excavated from the site of the battle of Wittstock, fought between the imperial Catholic and the Swedish Protestant armies on 4 October 1636. On the Swedish side, roughly a third of the force were Swedes and Finns, the rest were Germans with a strong contingent of Scots, including some fifty senior Scottish officers. The imperial force was similarly diverse in composition. Eight thousand men perished on one day alone. Among them were the 125 soldiers from both sides whose mass grave was discovered in 2007 and whose remains formed the core of the exhibition.Typical of the individual fates revealed by forensic archaeological analysis was the profile of one soldier: a Scot aged between 21 and 24, 168 centimetres in height, with evidence of periods of childhood starvation, serious dental decay, severely worn shoulder and hip joints, chronic periostitis, shot lodged in the upper arm and multiple wounds caused by halberds and daggers. The battle transformed the war. The Swedes had previously been defeated and, by 1636, many on the imperial side believed that the war was all but over. The unexpected Swedish victory at Wittstock ensured that the conflict continued for twelve further years.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus among patients attending a rural Kenyan hospital

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe Diabetes Management and Information Center in Nairobi has conducted population surveys among rural and urban Kenyans during the last decade. They have reported a rise in the prevalence of diabetes among rural Kenyans from 3% in 2003 to 7% in 2007. Our study was undertaken to investigate rural factors for type 2 diabetes and determine those that could be responsible for this rise in prevalence.ObjectivesTo describe the risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus among patients attending the outpatient clinics in a rural mission hospital in Kenya.MethodForty-five diabetics and forty-five non-diabetics, resident in this rural hospital's catchment area for at least 10 years, were randomly selected from patients attending outpatient clinics. Diabetics in a stable condition (not requiring hospitalisation), whose fasting blood sugars were below 6.1 mmol/L, were matched for age and gender with the non-diabetics who came to the hospital for outpatient services. A pilot-tested questionnaire on demography, current and past dietary habits, social habits, and family history was used to collect data. Waist circumference, height and weight were measured and BMI calculated. Data was analysed using SPSS for Windows. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare the medians for the continuous variables, while the chi-squared test was used for the categorical variables. The z-test was used to calculate the relative risk.ResultsNinety participants (26 males, 64 females). The mean age was 61.8 for diabetics and 61.4 for non-diabetics. Childhood starvation (relative risk 2.08, p = 0.0090) and use of cassava for sustenance during childhood starvation (relative risk 3.12, p = 0.0090) were identified as risk factors. Diabetes in close relatives, another risk factor for this population (relative risk 2.2, p = 0.0131). Abdominal obesity was a risk factor for this population (in females relative risk 2.0, p = 0.0010).ConclusionThe risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus described in this rural population include advancing age, diabetes in a first-degree relative and abdominal obesity. This is similar to what has been cited in other studies. At variance, we found that more than 50% of the diabetics reported having suffered malnutrition/starvation in childhood, with more than half of them reporting their dependence on cassava as the only food source during starvation.

Blood pressure, hypertension and mortality from circulatory disease in men and women who survived the siege of Leningrad

The population of Leningrad suffered from severe starvation, cold and psychological stress during the siege in 1941-1944. We investigated long-term effects of the siege on cardiovascular risk factors and mortality in surviving men and women. 3905 men born 1916-1935 and 1729 women born 1910-1940, resident in St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) between 1975 and 1982, of whom a third experienced the siege as children, adolescents or young adults, were examined for cardiovascular risk factors in 1975-1977 and 1980-1982 respectively and followed till end 2005. Effects of siege exposure on blood pressure, lipids, body size, and mortality were studied in multivariate analysis stratified by gender and period of birth, adjusted for age, smoking, alcohol and social characteristics. Women who were 6-8 years-old and men who were 9-15 years-old at the peak of starvation had higher systolic blood pressure compared to unexposed subjects born during the same period of birth (fully adjusted difference 8.8, 95% CI: 0.1-17.5 mm Hg in women and 2.9, 95% CI: 0.7-5.0 mm Hg in men). Mean height of women who were exposed to siege as children appeared to be greater than that of unexposed women. Higher mortality from ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease was noted in men exposed at age 6-8 and 9-15, respectively. The experience of severe stress and starvation in childhood and puberty may have long-term effects on systolic blood pressure and circulatory disease in surviving men and women with potential gender differences in the effect of siege experienced at pre-pubertal age.

Recognizing Intentional Childhood Starvation

Recognizing Intentional Childhood Starvation

“THE LOW, VAGUE HUM OF NUMBERS”: THE MALTHUSIAN ECONOMIES OF JANE EYRE

JANE EYRE, CHARLOTTE BRONTË’S QUINTESSENTIAL NOVEL of “hunger, rebellion, and rage” (34),1 has been in recent years the subject of a number of important critical discussions about food, privation, and the social production of the female bourgeois body. These analyses, generally indebted to the theories of social practice and disciplinary individualism Foucault outlines in Discipline and Punish, tend to focus on issues of anorexia, female desire, and women’s agency, reading Jane’s intriguing concerns with food as either a rejection of adult female sexual development or as an articulation of other, more abstract desires for psychic or intellectual fulfillment (Hoelever, Michie).2 Although it seems inevitable that this “cult text of feminism” (Spivak 243) would produce such readings, I wish, in this essay, to shift our focus slightly, to suggest that the novel’s obsessive circlings around the issues of food and hunger are centered not so much around the nurturance and development of a specifically female or feminine body, but rather around the peculiar fate of the often ungendered3 yet extraordinarily vulnerable child’s body — a body largely understood, in nineteenth-century social discourse, to be strangely perishable and infinitely prone to danger and decay. Brontë’s frightening portraits of childhood starvation and neglect in the Lowood School chapters of Jane Eyre can be read as dramatizing the laws of Malthusian economics, speaking powerfully to a range of mid-nineteenth-century social anxieties regarding the relationship between the overproduction of unwanted children and the threat of mass starvation on a national scale.