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An old mom keeps you young: Mother’s age at last birth and offspring longevity in 19th century Utah

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Author

Summary, in English

This study analyzes the intergenerational effects of late child bearing on offspring’s adult longevity in a population in Utah (USA) that does not display evidence of parity-specific birth control – a so-called natural fertility population. Studies have found that for women who experience late menopause and prolonged reproduction, aging is postponed and longevity is increased. This is believed to indicate female “robustness” and the impact of biological or genetic factors. If indeed there is a genetic component involved, one would expect to also find evidence for the intergenerational transmission of longevity benefits. Our study investigates the relationship between prolonged natural fertility of mothers and their offspring’s survival rates in adulthood. Gompertz regression models (N = 7716) revealed that the offspring of mothers who were naturally fertile until a relatively high age lived significantly longer. This observed positive effect of late reproduction is not independent, but conditional upon survival of the mother to the end of her fecundity (defined here as age 50). Their relative risks at death beyond age 50 were between 6 and 12 percent lower than those of their counterparts born to moms who had an average age at last birth. Our results, which account for various early, adult and later life conditions as well as shared frailty, suggest that there is a positive relation between mother’s age at last birth and offspring longevity, and strengthen the notion that age at menopause is a good predictor of this relationship.

Publishing year

2016-06-23

Language

English

Pages

164-164

Publication/Series

Biodemography and Social Biology

Volume

62

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Economic History
  • Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1948-5573