Human capital formation in childhood and its association with health disparity in later life course

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24249032
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Medical sociology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Hashimoto Hideki 東京大学, 大学院医学系研究科(医学部), 教授 (50317682)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 近藤 克則 千葉大学, 学内共同利用施設等, 教授 (20298558) ; 野口 晴子 早稲田大学, 政治経済学術院, 教授 (90329318)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 社会格差 / 人的資本 / 学歴 / 健康格差

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Using an existing panel data of middle-age and older population (JSTAR), we investigated whether anthropometric measurement (e.g leg length) could be used as a proxy marker of human capital formation in childhood. We did not find significant association between leg length and recalled socioeconomic status in childhood. However, leg length did significantly mediate the association between educational attainment and blood pressure. We also relied on sibling information on educational attainment as a marker of social selection. Those with consistent educational attainment with his/her sibling had different association between educational attainment and smoking compared to their counterpart with inconsistent status for their siblings, suggesting that social selection does matter in the estimation of social disparity in health.

Free Research Field

保健社会学