Killing Me Softly: The Fetal Origins Hypothesis

DOI Web Site 21 Citations
  • Douglas Almond
    Associate Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York City, New York; Visiting professor at the Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • Janet Currie
    Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey; Director of the Program on Children, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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<jats:p> In the epidemiological literature, the fetal origins hypothesis associated with David J. Barker posits that chronic, degenerative conditions of adult health, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes, may be triggered by circumstances decades earlier, particularly, by in utero nutrition. Economists have expanded on this hypothesis, investigating a broader range of fetal shocks and circumstances and have found a wealth of later-life impacts on outcomes including test scores, educational attainment, and income, along with health. In the process, they have provided some of the most credible observational evidence in support of the hypothesis. The magnitude of the impacts is generally large. Thus, the fetal origins hypothesis has not only survived contact with economics, but has flourished. </jats:p>

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