Adult Health and Human Capital: Impact of Birth Weight and Childhood Growth

Today when the world is looking towards India as a human resource capital, the quality of such resource becomes a global concern. This book studies the relation between aberrant growth, adult diseases, and human capital, and recommends growth monitoring as a tool for human capital development. The growth in the first two years after birth is crucial—it contributes to better schooling, adult stature, income generation, and birth weight in the next generation. The book shows that recognition of aberrant growth and timely intervention can combat not only childhood morbidity but also adult diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, which can affect the next generation. The book refers to data from an ongoing cohort study, started in New Delhi in 1969, and finds that growth monitoring can have great intergenerational impact in India, where both childhood and adult morbidity are very high. Its contribution can be immense, given the impact on the future generation of Indians.