Universal Investment in Infants and Long-Run Health

This paper examines the long-run health effects of a universal infant health intervention, the 1937 Danish home visiting program, which targeted all infants. Using administrative population data and exploiting variation in the timing of implementation across municipalities, we find that treated individuals enjoy higher age-specific survival rates during middle age (45–64), experience fewer hospital nights and are less likely to be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. These results suggest that an improved nutrition and disease environment in infancy "programmed" individuals for lower predisposition to serious adult diseases.