Biological and Social Exposures in Youth Set the Stage for Premature Chronic Diseases

Abstract

Preventable chronic diseases represent the nation's leading causes of death and account for 75% of all health care costs ( 1 Centers for Disease Control and PreventionChronic disease overview Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/overview.htmDate: 2005 Google Scholar ). In our efforts to better understand the development of chronic diseases and to intervene to halt their onset and progression, there is growing recognition that health variations across individuals are multifaceted and must be examined across the spectrum, from intrapersonal factors to societal influences. In addition, more attention is being given to characterizing social exposures during childhood, which can lead to chronic diseases in adulthood ( 2 Maty S.C. Lynch J.W. Raghunathan T.E. Kaplan G.A. Childhood socioeconomic position, gender, adult body mass index, and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus over 34 years in Alameda County Study. Am J Public Health. 2008; 98: 1-9 Google Scholar ). Some of these chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, previously seen exclusively in older adults, are now also occurring in childhood and young adulthood. To enhance support for use of evidence-based prevention programs aimed at children from poor families, Treviño and colleagues ( 3 Treviño R.P. Fogt D.L. Wyatt T.J. Leal-Vasquez L. Sosa E. Woods C. Diabetes risk, low fitness, and energy insufficiency levels among children from poor families. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008; 108: 1846-1853 Google Scholar ) report in this issue of the Journal the results of a cross-sectional study they conducted as part of the Bienestar School Study to determine the prevalence of high blood glucose, obesity, low fitness, and caloric insufficiency levels among 8- to 10-year-olds from poor families (household income <$21,135) in Texas ( 3 Treviño R.P. Fogt D.L. Wyatt T.J. Leal-Vasquez L. Sosa E. Woods C. Diabetes risk, low fitness, and energy insufficiency levels among children from poor families. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008; 108: 1846-1853 Google Scholar ). A. Albright is director, Division of Diabetes Translation, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA