Conditions experienced early in life or in utero have been shown to have persistent and long- term effects on health, education, and socioeconomic outcomes (see seminal work by Stein et al. (1975) and more recent papers by Maccini and Yang (2009) and Maluccio et al. (2009)). Barker (1998) argues that health shocks suffered in utero can cause irreversible adaptations to the local food environment and that children cannot catch up even if they later have good nutrition and health care. Consequently, shocks that negatively impact a child’s growth trajectory may lead to lower adult height, less cognitive ability and education, lower.
