Early Life Holds Clues to Adult Heart Health

Published: Sep 30, 2013

By Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Reviewed by F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE; Instructor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

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Action Points

• Note that this analysis of three cohort studies demonstrated that risk factors present in childhood are associated with cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
• Be aware that there was a substantial number of participants who were lost to follow-up; these individuals may differ from those that could be evaluated up to two decades after the initial assessment.

Family socioeconomic status, body mass index, and either personal or parental smoking during childhood predicted the likelihood of achieving ideal cardiovascular health as an adult, researchers found.

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