Early life adversity experiences, such as hunger and poverty, are negatively associated with one's physical health across the life course, especially for women.

The study, "Economic Adversity Transitions From Childhood to Older Adulthood Are Differentially Associated With Later-Life Physical Performance Measures in Men and Women in Middle and High-Income Sites", examines the relationship between economic adversity transitions from childhood to older adulthood and older adulthood physical performance among 1,998 community-dwelling older adults from five demographically diverse sites from middle and high-income countries.

Lead author of the study, Phoebe Hwang, DrPH '17 is a UH public health graduate.