Biomarkers developed from DNA methylation (DNAm) data are of growing interest as predictors of health outcomes. However, it is still unclear how epigenetic aging relates to inutero
stressors, such as housing insecurity and accelerated biological aging. Epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation, play a vital role in fetal growth and development (Agha et al. 2016; Schmitz and Duque 2022), and a harmful prenatal environment can impact epigenetic patterns and fetal development. Studies have shown that exposures during the in-utero period,
such as maternal smoking, diet, and famine, can affect DNA methylation patterns (Agha et al. 2016; Auclair and Weber 2012; Hyun and Jung 2020; Spano et al. 2022). Their small sample size has limited previous studies on the association between birth weight and DNA methylation. They also mainly focus on specific genomic regions and have limited accounting for gestational age.

This study uses data from the Future Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), based on a stratified, multistage probability sample of children born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000, with around 75% of the births being to unmarried mothers. Baseline interviews were conducted with mothers in the hospital soon after the child’s birth, and fathers were
interviewed either in the hospital or by phone. Follow-up interviews were conducted with both parents when the child was one, three, five, and nine years old. 2,667 mothers provided saliva
samples for biological assays of DNA methylation data approximately nine years after their child’s birth. Genetic information was obtained from saliva samples provided by the focal children and their biological mothers during in-home visits at the 9-year follow-up wave. Saliva samples were collected again from focal children during the 15-year follow-up wave. This data
includes variables generated from DNA methylation data from Illumina EPIC and 450K methylation arrays, such as DNAmAges generated from 13 epigenetic clocks, cell proportions derived from the DNA methylation data, and chronological age. Other variables indicate whether a DNA sample was available, if it passed quality control, if TL was measured, and if the TL
passed quality control. The central aim of the study is how does in-utero housing insecurity experienced by the mother during pregnancy predict epigenetic-based age acceleration at nine and age 15?

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) is a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of over 20,000 adolescents who were in grades 7-12 during the 1994-95 school year, and have been followed for five waves to date, most recently in 2016-18. The study has been funded for continued data collection as the cohort enters – and exits – middle adulthood and continue to become further differentiated by good and poor health. Its unique study design and robust measurement of “cells to society” include aspects of the neighborhood environment, parent-child health health and wealth concordance, detailed demographic histories (fertility, work, relationships), biomarkers tapping cardiometabolic wellness and stress-related pathologies, and genetic archiving data including polygenic risk scores for a number of health, behavioral, and social outcomes. In this hour-long workshop, Dr. Adam Lippert (University of Colorado Denver) will guide the audience through a data odyssey exploring the unique features of the Add Health data, specific measures of interest to population health scientists, best practices for using and managing the data, its limitations, and research gaps that could be addressed with the data.

As grandparents are increasingly becoming the primary caregivers of their grandchildren  worldwide, an important topic within the demography of grandparenthood is the intergenerational transfer between grandparents and grandchildren. However, despite the extensive literature on the effects of grandparental care on their grandchildren survival and development, only few studies have considered how forces driving the demographic and epidemiological transitions shape the demography of grandparenthood and intergenerational transfers. In particular, there are conditions in modern human populations that play an important role in reducing the potential supply and quality of grandparental care. This is that older adults may be exposed to an increased burden of disease and disability that compromises their health status and/or their physical capacity to provide support. In this study, we use cross-national DHS data from low- and middle-income countries to estimate, first, the association between grandparents’ co-residence and grandchildren nutritional status for each country and year. Second, by using multilevel models and country-year level data and on the prevalence of chronic conditions from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and the Global Burden of Disease Study, we assess whether geographic and temporal variation in the effect of grandparent’s co-residence is a result of context-specific characteristics related to the demographic and epidemiological transitions that affect older adults and their capacity to care for grandchildren.

Within this talk we will present the Madrid Longitudinal Historical Population Register, which started in 2005, explaining its contents and some results and research lines during the past years. Within these results, we will focus on one example: Did the 1920s economic depression accelerated the epidemiological transition? Evidence from early-childhood mortality in Madrid, 1915-1926

We test a provocative hypothesis: did the 1920s economic depression accelerated the decline of water and food-borne infectious diseases mortality because the rise of cost of life, especially the increase in the price of milk, which encouraged maternal breastfeeding?

This hypothesis is studied in the context of Madrid, which was characterized during this period by deep social and spatial inequalities affecting childhood mortality which, however, declined. Building on an exhaustive database (255898 births and 228417 deaths from 1913-1926), we linked death and birth certificates for 95% of the children born in Madrid who died before their second birthday.

Using Cox and Fine-Gray models, we compare the amplitude of the summer peak of mortality (all cause and cause-specific), before, during and after the economic depression, controlling for the fluctuations in milk prices. Results suggest that the economic difficulties reduced the use of (often spoiled) commercial milk and encouraged maternal breastfeeding.

We model the influence of selected ancillary processes that partially account for trends in intergenerational transmission of obesity in modern populations. They include vertical inheritance of obesity-related genetic variants, gene-environment interactions, phenotypic assortative mating, and differential fertility.  These processes operate in the background modulating the effects of more proximate determinants of obesity, including environments and individual behaviors. Our approach sheds light on the spatial diffusion and intergenerational transmission of the phenotype under conditions  determined by macro, micro, and mediating molecular factors affecting individuals’ obesity risks. To model the ancillary processes, we use generalizations of Leslie matrices and Markov chains as well and Agent  Based Models (ABM).