Online Lecture 4: Intergenerational transmission of health and behaviors

Lecturer: Dr. Emre Sari, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre

Content of the lecture/ workshop: This lecture presents the complex mechanisms of nature and nurture in persisting health and health behaviors across multiple generations: how health and related behaviors are passed on between generations, emphasizing their historical context. It will illustrate both social and biological pathways, including genetic inheritance and epigenetic modifications, as well as the influence of parental behaviors, socioeconomic status, and cultural practices on the health outcomes of the offspring. This lecture will exemplify research findings on how early life experiences health, nutritional status during childhood, and adverse experiences in childhood health over successive generations across different historical periods, including the effects of pandemics, famines, and wars. The lecture also discusses how public policy can mitigate or worsen these intergenerational effects.

Objectives of the lecture/ workshop:

• To explore the historical impacts of major events and social changes on the health of successive generations.
• To understand some basic mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of health and behavior. 
• To introduce the necessity of using historical, individual-level datasets and discuss potential methodological approaches for studying intergenerational health transmission over time.

Requirements: Active participation.

Recommended reading: 

• Cook, C. J., Fletcher, J. M., & Forgues, A. (2019). Multigenerational Effects of Early-Life Health Shocks. Demography, 56(5), 1855–1874. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00804-3
• Lee, C. (2014). Intergenerational health consequences of in utero exposure to maternal stress: Evidence from the 1980 Kwangju uprising. Social Science and Medicine, 119, 284–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.07.001
• Lindeboom, M., Portrait, F., & van den Berg, G. J. (2010). Long-run effects on longevity of a nutritional shock early in life: The Dutch Potato famine of 1846-1847. Journal of Health Economics, 29(5), 617–629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2010.06.001
• Sadruddin, A. F. A., Ponguta, L. A., Zonderman, A. L., Wiley, K. S., Grimshaw, A., & Panter-Brick, C. (2019). How do grandparents influence child health and development? A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 239, 112476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112476
• Sari, E. (2023b). Multigenerational Health Perspectives: The Role of Grandparents’ Influence in Grandchildren’s Wellbeing. International Journal of Public Health, 68, 1606292. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2023.1606292
• Sari, E., Moilanen, M., & Lindeboom, M. (2023). Role of grandparents in risky health behavior transmission: A study on smoking behavior in Norway. Social Science & Medicine, 338, 116339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116339
• Sari, E., Moilanen, M., & Sommerseth, H. L. (2021). Transgenerational Health Effects of In Utero Exposure to Economic Hardship: Evidence from Preindustrial Southern Norway. Economics & Human Biology, 43(C), 101060. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.EHB.2021.101060
• Serpeloni, F., Radtke, K., de Assis, S. G., Henning, F., Nätt, D., & Elbert, T. (2017). Grandmaternal stress during pregnancy and DNA methylation of the third generation: An epigenome-wide association study. Translational Psychiatry, 7(8), e1202. https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2017.153
• Skinner, M. K., Manikkam, M., & Guerrero-Bosagna, C. (2010). Epigenetic transgenerational actions of environmental factors in disease etiology. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 21(4), 214–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2009.12.007
• van den Berg, G. J., & Pinger, P. R. (2016). Transgenerational effects of childhood conditions on third generation health and education outcomes. Economics and Human Biology, 23, 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2016.07.001

You can download the presentation by Emre Sari in .pdf