Does Prenatal Exposure to Acute Malnutrition Increases the Risk of Fetal Loss? Evidence from the 1959-1961 Great Leap Forward Famine in China

Shige Song, Queens College and CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR)

Using two large nationally representative sample survey data from China in 1988 and in 2001, I study the potential long-term impact of prenatal exposure to the 1959-1961 Great Leap Forward Famine in China on the risk of involuntary fetal loss by comparing the cohort difference between women born during the famine (1959-1961) and women born either before (1956-1958) or after (1962-1964). Pre- liminary results support the claim that prenatal exposure to famine may increase the risk of involuntary fetal loss of women when reaching childbearing age. The next step is to estimate “difference-in-difference” models to get more refined estimates of the potential long-term impact of prenatal exposure to famine on the risk of involuntary fetal loss.