Influence of childhood social and sanitary conditions on the health of older adults in Mexico

Teresita Elisa Ruiz Pantoja, El Colegio de México
Roberto Ham-Chande, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte

In the study of early-life determinants of health and survival of Mexican elderly this paper presents a historical review of the social and health environment during the first half of 20th Century XX in Mexico as a framework to understand the factors that sketched later survival and health in old age. Using the Mexican Health and Aging Survey 2001 the study seeks the association between early life health and socio-economic with survival and health outcomes of the elderly population at the turn of the Century. Comparisons are made between cohorts that were born in periods 1896-1921, 1922-1931, 1932-1941 and 1942-1951. Hypothesis and findings were substantiated about the effects of social and health circumstances during childhood on old age respiratory disorders, heart diseases, hypertension, cerebral stroke, arthritis or rheumatism and diabetes.