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New research has found a strong link between higher stress in children and adverse health conditions for them later in life.<\/p>\n
In an article in the journal PNAS<\/a>, the study used measurable metrics of health over time to create a more quantitative view of how stress early in life affects health.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had an idea for a long time, since the \u201980s at least, that when children have adversity in their lives, it affects how their bodies work, not just psychologically, but also physiologically. It gets underneath the skin, and it becomes embodied in the way your body handles stress,\u201d says coauthor Herman Pontzer, principal investigator with the Pontzer Lab and professor in the evolutionary anthropology department at Duke University<\/p>\n The researchers focused on allostatic load (AL), which refers to the \u201cwear and tear\u201d on the body because of chronic stress. The researchers \u201ctested associations between childhood AL and adult cardiometabolic health,\u201d relying on biomarkers that included antibodies of C-reactive protein, which is a marker of inflammation in the body; and the Epstein-Barr virus<\/a>, which is common and highly contagious; body mass index; and blood pressure.<\/p>\n Analysis by lead author Elena Hinz, a PhD student in the Pontzer Lab at Duke, showed that a child\u2019s stress levels, as young as 9 to 11 years old, is an indicator of their cardio and metabolic health in adulthood.<\/p>\n Usually, researchers ask adults to remember their stress. Hinz and her fellow researchers used a big study that collected quantitative\u2014not just qualitative\u2014samples over time.<\/p>\n The paper\u2019s authors reviewed data from the Great Smoky Mountains Study (GSMS), a longitudinal study of child psychiatric disorders that began in 1992\u2014and continues today\u2014to determine the need for mental health services.<\/p>\n Hinz, who grew up in a rural community in East Tennessee, says her own coming-of-age experiences spurred her interest in childhood stress.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m from the rural South and kind of have this idea of what stress looks like in that environment, in terms of childhood adversity and dietary stress and the physical environment that kids are in,\u201d says Hinz.<\/p>\n Hinz says humans combat acute stress through a \u201cflight or fight\u201d response: \u201cYour body collectively reacts by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure when you are experiencing a stressful situation,\u201d she explains. \u201cThose and other responses help you deal with that stress, but it\u2019s not good to always be in that state. I\u2019m interested in what happens when that doesn\u2019t really subside.\u201d<\/p>\n Poverty is at the crux of the study, which indicates a stable, financially secure home is essential for a healthy childhood free of chronic stress.<\/p>\n \u201cChildren who are 8, 9, and 10 years old\u2014what\u2019s happening to them seems to be predictive of blood pressure,\u201d Pontzer says about early life stress.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat helps is education and job training and all of the stuff that gets communities out of poverty. That gets people the help they need when they need it, as opposed to health care cost barriers,\u201d says Pontzer.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking sure that a kid knows there\u2019s going to be dinner and food on the table because that psychological stress isn\u2019t just psychological,\u201d says Pontzer. \u201cIt gets into the way your body works<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Support for this study came from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NARSAD (Early Career Award to First Author), the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Economic and Social Research Council in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n