What factors play a key role in preserving health of future generations? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Bina Shrimali, Senior Researcher at the SF Fed, Public Health Innovator, on Quora:
First, history matters. In thinking about the health of future generations, we have to acknowledge the long arc of how health develops. Some of the most fascinating public health research of late focuses on how things that happen to you before you’re even born, when gestating in your mother’s womb, may determine your health later in life. An example of this concept are studies of the Dutch famine during World War II. Researchers found that mothers pregnant during the famine were more likely to have small babies, who in turn were at greater risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and a host of other chronic diseases decades later.
Second, while pregnancy is a critical time in development, it is actually a woman’s health over her lifetime that shapes her health when she is pregnant and thus her baby’s health at birth. If a woman lives in a place that offers her opportunities for growth, education, and economic well-being -- where she is in the driver’s seat and maintains a sense of control over her own destiny -- she is more likely to have a healthy baby. If she lacks power and control or experiences discrimination, violence, or financial instability, she is more likely to have a small baby. And the cycle continues.
Together these two concepts are called the life course perspective and explain how life chances are transferred through generations. The life course perspective is changing the paradigm of how we think about making investments in health. In the U.S. context, life course studies have shown that babies living in poor neighborhoods when they are born are more likely to have an unhealthy baby themselves, years down the road, compared to those living in neighborhoods with higher incomes.
This research allows us to think creatively about how to create environments that support pregnant women and young children and set them on positive trajectories for future health. As more health practitioners are embracing this paradigm shift, we are seeing innovative approaches develop. For example, in Boston, the public health department and housing authority partnered to prioritize housing for pregnant women. In the SF Bay Area, Contra Costa County Health Services incorporated financial coaching into their health programming for pregnant women and women with young children. Alameda County Public Health Department is testing new models of reducing stress for pregnant women and women with young children by offering flexible capital during this critical time to help lay the foundation for lifelong health.
This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions:
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