Early‐Life Hunger Experience and Dietary Behaviors in Adulthood: Evidence From the Great Chinese Famine

ABSTRACT The impacts of famine are both complicated and constant. This paper provides a pathway from hunger experience to dietary behaviors, which is vital to health and individual development. Using data from four waves in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (2004–2011), a cohort difference‐in‐differences strategy is applied to estimate the long‐term effects of the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961) on dietary behaviors of middle‐aged adults in rural China. Results show that early‐life exposure to hunger negatively affects their caloric, carbohydrate, calcium, and manganese intakes but has no significant impact on dietary structure and quality. Food consumption is a direct pathway linking early‐life famine to changes in nutrient intake. Mechanism analysis reveals that economic hardship and dietary knowledge act as key channels through which long‐term economic hardship constrains access to nutrients, while enhanced dietary knowledge mitigates the reduction of caloric intake, though it cannot offset the economic impacts. Heterogenous effects are observed among different groups based on gender, weight, and income level.