Health Capital and the Prenatal Environment: The Effect of Ramadan Observance During Pregnancy

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Almond, Douglas; Mazumder, Bhashkar
• 署名单位: Columbia University; Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - Chicago
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.3.4.56
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 56-85
• 关键词: beta-hydroxybutyrate; sex-ratios; LIFE

摘要

This paper uses the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as a natural experiment in diurnal fasting and fetal health. Among births to Arab parents in Michigan, we find prenatal exposure to Ramadan results in lower birth weight. Exposure in the first month of gestation also reduces the number of male births. Turning to long-term fetal origins effects, we find Muslims in Uganda and Iraq are 20 percent more likely to be disabled as adults if early pregnancy overlapped with Ramadan. Estimated effects are larger for mental (or learning) disabilities. Our results suggest that relatively mild prenatal exposures can have persistent effects.