EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AS A PREDICTOR OF BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES IN LATER LIFE

Abstract

Despite remarkable progress in health status and life expectancy in the developed countries over the past decades, large inequalities remain not only across countries but also across population groups in each country. These inequalities in health status are linked to many factors, including differences in exposure to risk factors to health and in access to health care.

Inequalities in health status are due to many factors, including differences in living and working conditions and in behavioral factors. Lifestyle behaviors ( eg. nutrition habits, physical inactivity, obesity, smoking and alcohol drinking) are important risk factors for many diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers and vastly affect oral health as well.

People in lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to smoke, be obese and be exposed to other important behavioral risk factors. Efforts targeting behavioral risk factors among disadvantaged groups can play an important role in promoting healthier lifestyles, offering individuals better choices, and reducing health inequalities.

A key focus should be early child development. Good early development is a predictor of better health outcomes in later life.

During pregnancy and the first few weeks and months of life, critical stages in the child’s mental and physical development follow each other in rapid succession. Each stage serves as a foundation for the next. Any faltering in early childhood therefore puts at risk subsequent stages of growth and development.

There is an increasing number of mental health problems. One in five children and adolescents experience psychological conditions and/or psychiatric disorders.

People with mental illness have increased risk of dental diseases due to several factors: fear, habits, life-style choices, cost, distrust of dentists, negative past experiences or stigma felt at a dentist visit, lack of knowledge about oral hygiene, lack of awareness of their own oral health problems, side effects of certain medications. However many people living with mental illness, dental health may be a low priority. Oral symptoms may be the first or only manifestation of a mental health problem.