 The Developmental Origins of Health InequalityA chapter in Health and Inequality, 2013, vol. 21, pp 285-309 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited Abstract: In this chapter, I review recent evidence on the developmental origins of health inequality. I discuss the origins of the education-health gradient, the long-term costs caused by early life adversity, and how early life experiences affect the biology of the body. Additionally, I provide complementary evidence on enrichment interventions which can at least partially compensate for these gaps. I highlight emerging lines of scientific inquiry which are likely to have a significant impact on the field. I argue that, while the evidence that early life conditions have long-term effects is now uncontroversial, the literature needs to be expanded both in a theoretical and empirical direction. On the one hand, a model linking early life origins to ageing needs to be developed; on the other hand, a better understanding of the mechanisms – both biological and socioeconomic – is required, in order to design more effective interventions. Keywords: developmental origins; health inequality; deprivation; enrichment; early childhood interventions; I12; I21; J24; C31; C93 (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:reinzz:s1049-2585(2013)0000021025 DOI: 10.1108/S1049-2585(2013)0000021025 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Research on Economic Inequality from Emerald Group Publishing Limited |
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