From developmental origins of adult disease to life course research on adult disease and aging: insights from birth cohort studies

Abstract

Maturation of long-running birth cohort studies has fostered a life course approach to adult health, function, and disease and related to conceptual frameworks. Using broad concepts of human development including physical, cognitive, and emotional function, birth cohorts provide insights into the processes across the life course and between generations that link to adult outcomes. We discuss findings on the determinants and health consequences of lifetime trajectories of body size, cognitive and emotional function, and socioeconomic position. Findings from the studies suggest that, for some adult health outcomes, explanations will be incomplete unless exposures and processes from across the life course are taken into account. New birth cohort studies are poised to delineate further the nature and timing of life course relationships in contemporary generations of children.