Height, Education and Cognitive Function at Older Ages: International Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_916DD4AABA65
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Title
Height, Education and Cognitive Function at Older Ages: International Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean
Journal
Economics and Human Biology
Author(s)
Maurer J.
Publication state
Published
Issued date
07/2010
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
8
Number
2
Pages
168-176
Language
english
Abstract
Building on previous evidence from the U.S., this study investigates the relationship between anthropometric markers (height and knee height), early-life conditions, education, and cognitive function in later life among urban elderly from Latin America and the Caribbean. I document a positive association between height and later-life cognitive function, which is larger for women than for men. This sex difference increases when I address potential feedback effects from mid- and later-life circumstances on stature by using knee height as an instrument for height. Specifically, while the estimates for women remain largely unchanged, I only find a diminished and statistically insignificant association between instrumented height and later-life cognition for men. This finding suggests that at least part of the association between height and later-life cognition among men may stem from common third factors that are correlated with both height and later-life cognition, such as adverse occupational exposures or health events during mid- and later life. Extended models that also include education further diminish the association between height and later-life cognition. Education displays strong positive gradients with the employed measures of childhood circumstances - including height - which points to education as a potential pathway linking early-life conditions and later-life cognitive function.

Keywords
Early-life conditions, Later-life cognitive function, Height, Knee height, Physical stature, Latin America, Caribbean
Web of science
Create date
10/10/2017 14:10
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:54
Usage data