Individuals who serve in the military substitute work experience for post-secondary educational attainment after high school, leading to large educational attainment gaps between new veterans and observably similar nonveterans. Little is known about the evolution of these gaps by age and across cohorts. We investigate the life-cycle attainment of veterans relative to nonveterans using a synthetic panel data approach. Following five multiyear birth cohorts we find that, on average, veterans close a 20-percentage point gap in attainment of a bachelor's or greater over time and significantly outpace observably similar nonveterans in attainment of an associate's degree. Female and minority veterans exceeded the attainment of similar nonveterans over time, and more recent birth cohorts began with larger gaps but closed them at younger ages due to increasing levels of both enrollment and enrollment intensity. Our findings highlight the important role of military service in facilitating social mobility through educational attainment.

Organic food consumption and its effects on health remain understudied in adults and in children. The aim of this study was to describe family characteristics associated with feeding infants organic foods during the complementary feeding period. The analysis included 9764 children from the French Étude Longitudinale Française depuis l’Enfance (ELFE) birth cohort. In addition to telephone interviews conducted at 2, 12 and 24 months, a monthly questionnaire about milk feeding and complementary foods (including organic foods) was completed by parents between 3 and 10 months. Associations between family characteristics and feeding with organic foods during complementary feeding were analysed by multivariable multinomial logistic regression. Overall, 51 % of infants never consumed organic food during the complementary feeding period (up to 10 months), 24 % sometimes, 15 % often and 9 % always or almost always. As compared with infants never fed organic foods, those ‘often’ or ‘always’ fed organic foods were born to older mothers, with higher education level or family income, and lower pre-pregnancy BMI. As compared with never-smoking women, women who had stopped smoking before pregnancy were more likely to feed their infant organic foods. Feeding with organic foods was also related to long breast-feeding duration and later introduction to complementary foods. To conclude, associations between feeding with organic foods and family socio-economic position as well as infant feeding practices need to be considered when studying the impact of organic foods on children’s health and development.

Much remains unknown about how the 2008 Great Recession, coupled with the ageing baby-boomer cohort, have shaped retirement expectations and realised retirement timing across diverse groups of older Americans. Using the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2016), we compared expectations about full-time work at age 62 (reported at ages 51–61) with realised labour force status at age 62. Of the 12,049 respondents, 34 per cent reported no chance of working full time at 62 (zero probability) and 21 per cent reported it was very likely (90–100 probability). Among those reporting no chance of working, there was a 0.111 probability of unmet expectations; among those with high expectations of working, there was a 0.430 probability of unmet expectations. Black and Hispanic Americans were more likely than white Americans to have unmet expectations of both types. Educational attainment was associated with higher probability of unexpectedly working and lower probability of unexpectedly not working. Baby-boomers experienced fewer unmet expectations than prior cohorts but more uncertainty about work status at 62. Our findings highlight the unpredictability of retirement timing for significant segments of the US population and the role of the Great Recession in contributing to uncertainty. Given the individual and societal benefits of long work lives, special attention should be paid to the high rates of unexpectedly not working at age 62.

The occurrence of anorectal malformations (ARM) is thought to be reduced with sufficient folate intake. However, there is no apparent evidence. We focused on enzyme cofactors for one-carbon metabolism, including folate (vitamin B9), vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, and explored the association between maternal combined intake of these B vitamins and the risk of ARM. Using baseline data from a Japanese nationwide birth cohort study between 2011 and 2014, we analysed data of 89 235 women (mean age at delivery = 31·2 years) who delivered singleton live births without chromosomal anomalies. Information on dietary intake was obtained via a FFQ focused on early pregnancy and used to estimate B vitamin intake. We also collected information on the frequency of folic acid supplement use. ARM occurrence was ascertained from medical records. We identified forty-three cases of ARM diagnosed up to the first month after birth (4·8 per 10 000 live births). In terms of individual intake of the respective B vitamins, high vitamin B6 intake was non-significantly associated with reduced odds of ARM. Compared with women in the low combined B vitamin intake group, the OR of having an infant with ARM was 0·4 (95 % CI 0·2, 1·0) in the high intake group (folate ≥400 μg/d, and upper half of vitamin B6 and/or vitamin B12). In conclusion, our cohort analysis suggested an inverse association between the combined intake of one-carbon metabolism-related B vitamins in early pregnancy and ARM occurrence.

The pathogenesis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is largely unknown; however, vitamin A seems to play a role in diaphragmatic development. Previous case–control studies reported that maternal dietary vitamin A intake was inversely associated with the risk of CDH. To our knowledge, however, there is no prospective evidence regarding this association. Our aim was to examine whether maternal intake of vitamin A was associated with CDH occurrence. Baseline data, from the Japan nationwide birth cohort study (2011–2014) of 89 658 mothers (mean age at delivery = 31·2 years) who delivered singleton live births, were analysed. We assessed dietary habits using an FFQ focused on the first trimester and estimated the daily intake of total vitamin A (retinol activity equivalents), retinol, provitamin A carotenoids and vegetables. The occurrence of CDH was ascertained from medical records. A total of forty cases of CDH were documented. The adjusted OR of CDH occurrence for the high total vitamin A intake category (median = 468 μg/d) was 0·6 (95 % CI 0·3, 1·2) with reference to the low intake category (230 μg/d). When we restricted to mothers with a prepregnancy BMI of 18·5–24·9 kg/m2, vitamin A intake was inversely associated with the risk of their children being born with CDH (OR 0·5, 95 % CI 0·2, 1·0). Even given the limited number of cases in the study, our findings provide additional evidence to link vitamin A with CDH.

Current evidence suggests that the aetiology of congenital gastrointestinal (GI) tract atresia is multifactorial, and not based solely on genetic factors. However, there are no established modifiable risk factors for congenital GI tract atresia. We used data from a Japanese nationwide birth cohort study launched in 2011, and examined whether fish consumption in early pregnancy was associated with congenital GI tract atresia. We analysed data of 89 495 women (mean age at delivery=31·2 years) who delivered singleton live births without chromosomal anomalies. Based on the results of the FFQ, we estimated the daily intake of fish and n-3 PUFA consumption in early pregnancy. We defined a composite outcome (oesophageal atresia, duodenal atresia, jejunoileal atresia and/or anorectal malformation) as congenital GI tract atresia. In this population, median fish intake was 31·9 g/d, and seventy-four cases of congenital GI tract atresia were identified. Fish consumption in early pregnancy was inversely associated with the composite outcome (multivariable-adjusted OR for the high v. low consumption category=0·5, 95 % CI 0·3, 1·0). For all the specific types of atresia, decreased OR were observed in the high consumption category, although not statistically significant. Reduced atresia occurrence was observed even beyond the US Food and Drug Administration’s recommended consumption of no more than 340 g/week. Also, n-3 PUFA-rich fish and n-3 PUFA consumptions tended to be inversely associated with atresia. Fish consumption in early pregnancy may be a preventive factor for congenital GI tract atresia.

The evidence underpinning the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) is overwhelming. As the emphasis shifts more towards interventions and the translational strategies for disease prevention, it is important to capitalize on collaboration and knowledge sharing to maximize opportunities for discovery and replication. DOHaD meetings are facilitating this interaction. However, strategies to perpetuate focussed discussions and collaborations around and between conferences are more likely to facilitate the development of DOHaD research. For this reason, the DOHaD Society of Australia and New Zealand (DOHaD ANZ) has initiated themed Working Groups, which convened at the 2014–2015 conferences. This report introduces the DOHaD ANZ Working Groups and summarizes their plans and activities. One of the first Working Groups to form was the ActEarly birth cohort group, which is moving towards more translational goals. Reflecting growing emphasis on the impact of early life biodiversity – even before birth – we also have a Working Group titled Infection, inflammation and the microbiome. We have several Working Groups exploring other major non-cancerous disease outcomes over the lifespan, including Brain, behaviour and development and Obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic health. The Epigenetics and Animal Models Working Groups cut across all these areas and seeks to ensure interaction between researchers. Finally, we have a group focussed on ‘Translation, policy and communication’ which focusses on how we can best take the evidence we produce into the community to effect change. By coordinating and perpetuating DOHaD discussions in this way we aim to enhance DOHaD research in our region.

The aim of the research presented is to determine the influence of socio-economic factors in childhood and mid-life on multiple tooth loss and chewing problems in mid- and late life in three Swedish birth cohorts (1903–1910, 1911–1920 and 1921–1925). Longitudinal national Swedish surveys were used for the analysis. Participants were interviewed in mid-life in 1968 and later in life (77–99 years of age) in 2002. Childhood socio-economic positions (SEP) did not result in different odds of multiple tooth loss and chewing problems in mid- and late life, but persons with higher mid-life SEP had lower odds. Persons born into the 1921–1925 birth cohort had significantly lower odds of multiple tooth loss in late life than the 1903–1910 birth cohort. Women had higher odds of losing multiple teeth than men in late life but not mid-life. Neither gender nor childhood and mid-life SEP predicted chewing problems late in life, but older people with multiple tooth loss had higher odds of chewing difficulty than those with mainly natural teeth. Childhood conditions may contribute to multiple tooth loss in mid-life, which subsequently contributes to multiple tooth loss in late life. Tooth loss in late life is strongly associated with difficulty chewing hard food. Prevalence of multiple tooth loss is higher in women than in men in late life but not in mid-life.

Algorithms for a stochastic population process, based on assumptions underlying general age-dependent branching processes in discrete time with time inhomogeneous laws of evolution, are developed through the use of a new representation of basic random functions involving birth cohorts and random sums of random variables. New algorithms provide a capability for computing the mean age structure of the process as well as variances and covariances, measuring variation about means. Four exploratory population projections, testing the implications of the algorithms for the case of time-homogeneous laws of evolution, are presented. Formulas extending mean and variance functions for unit population projections to an arbitrary initial population size are also presented. These formulas show that, in population processes with non-random laws of evolution, stochastic fluctuations about the mean function are negligible when initial population size is large. Further extensions of these formulas to the case of randomized laws of evolution suggest that stochastic fluctuations about the mean function can be significant even for large initial populations.