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While the idea that early-life exposures may influence adult health is not new, 1 there has been a revived interest in studying the life course determinants of health in adulthood. 2,3 Whether increased morbidity and mortality in adulthood are the result of biological programming due to critical events in utero, 4 the accumulation and interaction of harmful exposures along the pathway between infancy and adulthood, 5,6 or a combination of both is still unclear for most diseases. Some of the best evidence for the utility of the life course approach comes from recent studies showing that both early-and later-life socioeconomic conditions can affect a variety of health outcomes in adulthood, including self-rated health, 7 coronary heart disease, 8,9-11 stroke and stomach cancer, 11 non-fatal myocardial infarction, 12 and all-cause mortality. 9 11 Given the evidence that both childhood and adult socioeconomic position are associated with morbidity and mortality
S. Harper (Mon,) studied this question.