Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
Demography. 2012 Nov;49(4):1231-57. doi: 10.1007/s13524-012-0132-x.
Advanced maternal age is associated with negative offspring health outcomes. This interpretation often relies on physiological processes related to aging, such as decreasing oocyte quality. We use a large, population-based sample of American adults to analyze how selection and lifespan overlap between generations influence the maternal age-offspring adult health association. We find that offspring born to mothers younger than age 25 or older than 35 have worse outcomes with respect to mortality, self-rated health, height, obesity, and the number of diagnosed conditions than those born to mothers aged 25-34. Controls for maternal education and age at which the child lost the mother eliminate the effect for advanced maternal age up to age 45. The association between young maternal age and negative offspring outcomes is robust to these controls. Our findings suggest that the advanced maternal age-offspring adult health association reflects selection and factors related to lifespan overlap. These may include shared frailty or parental investment but are not directly related to the physiological health of the mother during conception, fetal development, or birth. The results for young maternal age add to the evidence suggesting that children born to young mothers might be better off if the parents waited a few years.
高龄产妇与后代健康状况不佳有关。这种解释通常依赖于与衰老相关的生理过程，例如卵母细胞质量下降。我们使用了一个大型的、基于人群的美国成年人样本，分析了代际间的选择和寿命重叠如何影响母亲年龄与后代成年健康之间的关联。我们发现，与 25-34 岁母亲所生的孩子相比，25 岁以下或 35 岁以上母亲所生的孩子在死亡率、自我报告的健康状况、身高、肥胖和诊断出的疾病数量等方面的结局更差。控制母亲的教育程度和孩子失去母亲的年龄，可以消除母亲年龄在 45 岁之前对高龄产妇的影响。年轻母亲年龄与后代负面结果之间的关联在这些控制因素下仍然存在。我们的研究结果表明，高龄产妇与后代成年健康之间的关联反映了代际间的选择和与寿命重叠相关的因素。这些因素可能包括共同的脆弱性或父母投资，但与受孕、胎儿发育或分娩期间母亲的生理健康没有直接关系。年轻母亲年龄的结果增加了证据表明，如果父母等待几年，那么年轻母亲所生的孩子可能会更好。
