A Life Course Approach to Chronic Disease Epidemiology

Abstract The field of life course epidemiology has expanded rapidly since this book was first published. The purpose of this field is to study how biological and social factors during gestation, childhood, adolescence, and earlier adult life independently, cumulatively, and interactively influence later life health and disease. Contributors to this edition capture the excitement of the developing field and assess the latest evidence regarding sources of risk to health across the life course and across generations. The chapters on life course influences on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, blood pressure, respiratory disease, and cancer have been updated and extended. New chapters on life course influences on obesity, biological ageing, and neuropsychiatric disorders have been added. Life course explanations for disease trends and for socioeconomic differentials in disease risk are given more attention in this edition, reflecting recent developments in the field. The section on policy implications has been expanded, assessing the role of interventions to improve childhood social circumstances, as well as interventions to improve early growth. Emerging new research themes and the theoretical and methodological challenges facing life course epidemiology are highlighted.