Prenatal Sunshine Exposure and Birth Outcomes in China

Xin Zhang, Yixuan Wang, Xi Chen and Xun Zhang ()

No 452, GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO)

Abstract: This paper is one of the first to examine the associations between prenatal sunshine exposure and birth outcomes, specifically the incidence of low birth weight (LBW) and small for gestational age (SGA), based on a nationally representative birth record dataset in China. During the sample period in the 1990s, migration was limited in rural China, allowing us to address the identification challenges, like residential sorting and avoidance behaviors. We found a nonlinear relationship between the length of sunlight and birth outcomes. In particular, prenatal exposure to increasing sunshine was associated with a reduction in the incidence of LBW and SGA, especially in the second trimester during pregnancy. This finding was consistent with the clinical evidence suggesting positive effects of sunshine on birth outcomes via obtaining vitamin D or relieving maternal stress.

Keywords: Sunshine Duration; Low Birth Weight; Small for Gestational Age; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I18 J13 Q51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/211496/1/GLO-DP-0452.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Prenatal Sunshine Exposure and Birth Outcomes in China (2019)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:glodps:452

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics ().