Health, Height, Height Shrinkage and SES at Older Ages: Evidence from China

Older people sufer height shrinkage during ageing. Adult height, as a marker of childhood health, has recently become a focus in understanding the relationship between childhood health and health outcomes at older ages. However, measured height of the older individuals is contaminated by height shrinkage from ageing. Height shrinkage, in turn may be correlated with health conditions and socio-economic status from throughout the life-cycle. Based on the national baseline data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this paper investigates the correlates of shrinkage with current socioeconomic status (SES) and indicators of childhood health, and whether shrinkage is correlated with preshrinkage height.