Helping the next generation prosper

A child’s long-term health might already be affected by the social and economic characteristics of their family by age 14, according to new research.

This is the latest finding from one of the world’s major longitudinal health studies, jointly run by The University of Queensland and the Mater Hospital in Brisbane.

Professor Jake Najman, from UQ’s Schools of Social Sciences and Population Health, who heads the Mater/University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy, said new light had been shed on how the socio-economic status of mothers could affect the growth and development of a child.

“Our research shows that by age 14 some children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds have already had the basis of their future health compromised,” Professor Najman said.

“Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds by 14 have poorer mental health and poorer abilities to learn, affecting them at school and later in work.

“And by the time they are 14 they are more likely to have adopted an unhealthy lifestyle such as taking up risky behaviours like smoking.

“The research also suggests the health inequalities being seen in children are not only a consequence of their own economic circumstances but also that of their grandparents.”

But Dr Najman said research, particularly from America, had shown early intervention could reverse these inequalities.

”We can’t start too early in life to address health inequalities,” he said.

“Intervening, even during pregnancy, can make a difference.”

He said the Queensland government was now funding research to improve the health of children to enhance their lives in the long term.

“On one level it is a matter of simple social justice that we do something about this,” Professor Najman said.

“But on the other hand it just makes economic sense to target the problem at its source.

“The cost of targeting those at risk while they are young is considerably less than dealing with the problems that can develop later in their lives.”

The Mater/University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy started in 1981 as a three year study of more than 8000 expectant mothers, looking at health inequalities .

It has since developed into a 21-year project providing invaluable insights into the health of children and young adults.

The latest results in the study are published in the Journal of Social Science and Medicine and researchers are collecting data on the next stage of the research when the children turned 21.

“This study is the only one of its kind in Australia and one of the few in the world that has monitored child health from the prenatal period into adulthood,” Professor Najman said.

Media: For more information contact Professor Jake Najman (telephone 07 3365 3344 or 07 3365 5180) or Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2802).