A study from Duke University has found that stress in children can lead to health problems later in life.
The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used real health data to measure how childhood stress affects long-term health.
The research team included Professor Herman Pontzer from Duke and Ph.D. student Elena Hinz, who led the study. They focused on something called allostatic load, or AL. This term describes the wear and tear on the body caused by long-term stress.
To measure AL, they looked at several health markers such as body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and levels of inflammation and certain viruses in the body. One key marker was C-reactive protein, which shows inflammation, and another was the Epstein-Barr virus, which is common in people but can become active when the immune system is weak.
The researchers found that children who had high levels of stress between the ages of 9 and 11 were more likely to have poor heart and metabolic health when they became adults. This includes higher risk for conditions like high blood pressure, obesity, and heart disease.
What makes this study different is that it didn’t just ask adults to remember how stressed they were as kids. Instead, the team used real data collected over many years from the Great Smoky Mountains Study. This long-term study started in 1992 and has followed children into adulthood.
Elena Hinz, who grew up in a rural part of East Tennessee, said her own childhood made her interested in how stress affects children. She explained that the body reacts to stress by raising heart rate and blood pressure. This reaction helps in short-term danger, but it’s harmful if it happens all the time.
The researchers said that childhood poverty is a major source of stress. Children in poor households may constantly worry about food, housing, or safety. This kind of long-lasting stress doesn’t just affect the mind—it changes how the body works.
Professor Pontzer emphasized the importance of stable, financially secure homes. He said that early support, access to healthcare, and education are key ways to reduce childhood stress and improve health later in life.
This research shows that what happens to kids at a young age can affect their health as adults. Helping children grow up in a safe and stable environment can prevent many health problems in the future.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that vitamin K helps cut heart disease risk by a third, and a year of exercise reversed worrisome heart failure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about supplements that could help prevent heart disease, stroke, and results showing this food ingredient may strongly increase heart disease death risk.
The study is published in PNAS.
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