The perception of society about early life has been significantly shaped by the ideology that all of us are born equal. It is indeed true that the subject of being born equal has stirred a lot of controversy (Cota & Allen, 2010). Needles to say, our genes are different. Therefore, the early development life of a person may be impacted by the parent genes. This implies that early life of every individual is unique. The distinct nature of early life and the aspect of being born the same are not compatible at all. The early life may then be thought to be similar for every person if all of us are born equal. It is also interesting to note that this concept may overlook quite a number of influences. As already pointed out, genes influence several developmental aspects of a person. In addition, the genetic factor is unique for every individual. As a result, the concept can undermine or mask the genetic reality.
Adult diseases (morbidity) are influenced by quite a number of developmental origins of life and health. For example, childhood obesity has a direct influence on adult morbidity. Obese children who maintain the condition until the adulthood stage are likely to experience several lifestyles diseases in later life (Gluckman, Hanson & Mitchell, 2010). Colon cancer and cardiovascular diseases are also common among men who used to be obese during childhood. Hence, the use of developmental concepts can affect adult morbidity in two ways. First, such concepts may lower the occurrence of adult diseases if proactive measures are put in place. For instance, concepts that promote early screening and treatment of individuals can be used to lower the risk of infections that are prevalent during adulthood. Second, there are concepts that do not enhance proactive approaches in minimizing adult morbidity. Therefore, such concepts can grossly worsen the state of adult diseases bearing in mind that nothing much is done to control or prevent adult infections.
The main challenge lies with the ability of governments to address factors that influence the quality of early life. In most instances, healthcare bodies and government agencies do not intervene in good time to countercheck the healthcare challenges affecting the young population. As already mentioned, obesity is a critical healthcare concern that should be controlled or even prevented at the childhood stage. If the latter does not happen, it becomes almost impossible to effectively address upstream risk and protective determinants of health. In addition, there are no robust healthcare policies in place in most countries. It is necessary for the society to understand the importance of managing childhood infections. An effective healthcare policy should be created in order to offer clear guidelines on how to educate members of the public regarding early life infections. Worse still, the expensive nature of healthcare provision in several countries is still a major hindrance in addressing the protective determinants of health (Adamson & UNICEF, 2010).
Finally, child health can be improved through immunization. When children are vaccinated against common infections such as polio and measles, they grow healthy (Haflon, 2009). Although accessing vaccination is not a major health challenge in the developed world, it is pertinent to mention that millions of children in moist of the low income-earning countries cannot access immunization services. There are myriads of diseases that can be fully prevented by vaccination. Second, child health can also be improved through a balanced intake of meals. Diet is an integral factor that substantially contributes towards good health. For example, obesity among children is caused by unhealthy dietary intake. However, a balanced diet can correct obesity.
References
Adamson, P. & UNICEF (2010). The children left behind: A league table of inequality in child well-being in the world’s most rich countries. Web.
Cota, B., & Allen, P. (2010). The developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis. Pediatric Nursing, 36(3): 157-167.
Gluckman, P., Hanson, M., & Mitchell, M. (2010). Developmental origins of health and disease: Reducing the burden of chronic disease in the next generation. Genome Medicine, 2(2),14.
Haflon, N. (2009). Life course health development: A new approach for addressing upstream determinants of health and spending. Web.