Ebook: Families and Child Health

​​In recent years, there has been an explosion of research on the early origins of adult health. A growing body of evidence documents that maternal health before conception, prenatal and perinatal exposures, and conditions in childhood play critical roles in health over the life course. Scientific understanding of the multiple and interacting influences on child health and their role in later health continues to evolve rapidly, but greater attention to how families shape the conditions of early life that underlie childhood health is needed. This volume aims to advance understanding of this topic, with attention to mechanisms through which health disparities emerge and are sustained across the lifespan.​

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An adult's health is determined not only by stress levels, food choices, and recreational habits. Science is paying increased attention to the roles of prenatal, perinatal, and early childhood conditions in shaping health and well-being across the lifespan.

Families and Child Health brings clarity to this complex and multifaceted topic. This comprehensive volume presents analyses of the interactions between the "nature" and "nurture" components of the equation, providing current findings on in utero nutrition and development and examining the roles of social determinants and family discord in the creation of health disparities. Contributors emphasize opportunities for prevention and intervention and make the case for interdisciplinary collaboration. Among the topics covered in depth are:

• Early developmental origins of chronic disease.
• Lifecourse exposures and social disparities in child health.
• The science of designing, implementing, and evaluating programs and policies for child health.
• Effects of early psychosocial deprivation on children's cognitive and social development.
• The family-friendly workplace and its impact on child and family health.
• Integrating perspectives on children's health.

Families and Child Health is bedrock reading for researchers, professors, and graduate students in disparate fields such as policy analysis, human development, family studies, sociology, social welfare, family demography, public health, health science, clinical psychology, social psychology, behavioral medicine, and public policy. Policymakers will also find it of considerable importance.

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An adult's health is determined not only by stress levels, food choices, and recreational habits. Science is paying increased attention to the roles of prenatal, perinatal, and early childhood conditions in shaping health and well-being across the lifespan.

Families and Child Health brings clarity to this complex and multifaceted topic. This comprehensive volume presents analyses of the interactions between the "nature" and "nurture" components of the equation, providing current findings on in utero nutrition and development and examining the roles of social determinants and family discord in the creation of health disparities. Contributors emphasize opportunities for prevention and intervention and make the case for interdisciplinary collaboration. Among the topics covered in depth are:

• Early developmental origins of chronic disease.
• Lifecourse exposures and social disparities in child health.
• The science of designing, implementing, and evaluating programs and policies for child health.
• Effects of early psychosocial deprivation on children's cognitive and social development.
• The family-friendly workplace and its impact on child and family health.
• Integrating perspectives on children's health.

Families and Child Health is bedrock reading for researchers, professors, and graduate students in disparate fields such as policy analysis, human development, family studies, sociology, social welfare, family demography, public health, health science, clinical psychology, social psychology, behavioral medicine, and public policy. Policymakers will also find it of considerable importance.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvi
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
The Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease....Pages 3-11
How Can We Overcome the Biological Inertia of Past Deprivation? Anthropological Perspectives on the Developmental Origins of Adult Health....Pages 13-21
Developmental Origins of Disease and Health Disparities: Limitations and Future Directions....Pages 23-32
The Effects of Early Severe Psychosocial Deprivation on Children’s Cognitive and Social Development: Lessons from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project....Pages 33-41
Front Matter....Pages 43-43
Family Discord and Child Health: An Emotional Security Formulation....Pages 45-74
Family Influences on Children’s Mental and Physical Health: Some Contributions of and Challenges to the Emotional Security Theory....Pages 75-86
Emotional Insecurity and Child Health: Implications and Future Directions....Pages 87-94
Could Emotional Security Theory Help Advance Family-Focused Preventive Interventions?....Pages 95-104
Front Matter....Pages 105-105
Lifecourse Exposures and Socioeconomic Disparities in Child Health....Pages 107-134
Life Course Exposures and Socioeconomic Disparities in Child Health: Opportunities for Intervention....Pages 135-141
Social Class and Child Health: Our Complexity Complex....Pages 143-154
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
The Pro-family Workplace: Social and Economic Policies and Practices and Their Impacts on Child and Family Health....Pages 157-179
Work–Family Strain and Health Care For Children....Pages 181-190
Harder Than Rocket Science? The Science of Designing and Implementing Strong Family-Friendly Policies....Pages 191-200
Emerging Evidence from Research That Can Improve Social Policies and Programs to Impact Child Health....Pages 201-209
Front Matter....Pages 211-211
Integrating Perspectives on Child Health....Pages 213-226
Back Matter....Pages 227-232