Elo and Preston (1992) completed a review of the literature examining the effects of early life conditions on adult mortality. Their review begins with a discussion of the epidemiologic evidence for some of the major mechanisms whereby exposures and morbidity in childhood may have health consequences for adults. Initially, they examine a number of specific infectious diseases of childhood with well-documented, long-term health effects among adults (tuberculosis, hepatitis B, rheumatic heart disease) and then look at the growing literature suggesting that a number of chronic cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases may be related to a range of risk factors beginning in the intrauterine environment (e.g., intrauterine growth retardation) and extending through disease exposures and behavior patterns acquired in childhood (e.g., acute respiratory infections, dietary consumption of fat and salt). They examine other associations including a number of studies postulating that viral infections acquired in childhood may be linked to a wide variety of chronic diseases ranging from cancer to multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and presenile dementia, as well as the extensive literature linking short stature and adult mortality.
Childhood Precursors of Adult Morbidity and Mortality in Developing Countries: Implications for Health Programs
W.Henry Mosley and Ronald GrayPerinatal conditions
Low birthweight
Growth stunting, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Birth trauma, asphyxia, metabolic disorders
Brain damage, cerebral palsy, mental retardation
Congenital and perinatal infections
Hepatitis B
Liver cancer, chronic liver diseases
Syphilis
Blindness, deafness, paralysis, bone disease
Gonorrhea
Blindness
Infectious diseases of childhood
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Rheumatic fever
Chronic rheumatic heart disease
Poliomyelitis
Residual paralysis
Trachoma
Blindness
Chagas’ disease
Heart failure
Schistosomiasis
Liver cirrhosis, general debility
Helicobacter pylori
Stomach cancer
Epstein-Barr virus
Nasopharyngeal cancer, Burkitt’s lymphoma
Nutritional deficiencies in infancy and childhood
Protein-energy malnutrition
Growth stunting, obstetrical complications, cardiovascular disease, chronic pulmonary diseases, intellectual impairment
Micronutrient deficiency
Iodine
Cretinism, intellectual impairment
Iron
Learning disabilities, intellectual impairment
Vitamin A
Blindness
Environmental hazards
Indoor air pollution
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer
Lead exposure
Intellectual impairment
