Child and family health in the era of prevention: new opportunities and challenges.
To maintain positive health outcomes over the life course, prevention efforts should begin early in childhood. Two research domains that significantly impact the trajectory of health over the life course are childhood obesity and early trauma and violence. Prevention strategies addressing multiple levels of influence are being adopted in these fields. Childhood obesity prevention efforts no longer focus solely on individuals, but embrace multiple ecological levels, such as family, school, and community. Similarly, research on early trauma and violence has broadened to consider risk and protective factors across domains of influence. Although we have improved our understanding and prevention of these two issues, gaps remain in research, practice, and policy. The purpose of this review is to relay relevant findings that could enhance prevention strategies. We describe early life and multilevel risk factors relevant to these areas of research. We also provide recommendations for future efforts to better ensure good health for generations to come.
Department of Health Behavior and Policy, Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 980149, Richmond, VA, 23219, USA. bernard.fuemmeler@vcuhealth.org.
Bernard F
BF
Fuemmeler
Department of Psychology, College of Mt St Vincent, Bronx, NY, USA.
Pamela
P
Behrman
Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA.
Maija
M
Taylor
Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Rebeccah
R
Sokol
Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Emily
E
Rothman
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Lisette T
LT
Jacobson
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA.
Danielle
D
Wischenka
Departments of Oncology and Pediatrics, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
Kenneth P
KP
Tercyak
D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control*
Children; Community; Family; Obesity; Prevention; School; Trauma; Violence