Early Life Experience

Social and economic conditions – factors associated with income, education, and neighborhood poverty, for example  – affect health at every stage of life. The effects of socioeconomic adversity on young children, however, are probably the most dramatic. Socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood has been linked repeatedly with worse health not only in childhood but later in adulthood as well.  Child poverty often leads to lower educational attainment and therefore to lower income in adulthood, with strong health effects (See Income). Socioeconomic adversity in early childhood can lead to physical changes in brain development limiting children’s chances to succeed and be healthy; high-quality early child care can markedly improve the mental and behavioral development of children, especially those in less favorable socioeconomic circumstances.

Resources

  • Across America, Differences in How Long and How Well We Live

    Where we live, work, learn and play dramatically affects our health—for better or for worse. Across America and within every state, there are differences in how long and how well we live. This map and accompanying chart show the highest and lowest life expectancy rates (based on county-level data) found in each state and the District of Columbia.

  • Beyond Health Care: New Directions to a Healthier America

    This Commission report, Beyond Health Care: New Directions to a Healthier America, describes the Commission's work and provides recommendations for moving forward to ensure all Americans have an opportunity to lead healthier lives.

    See the Report

  • America's Health Starts With Healthy Children: How Do States Compare?

    This chartbook, America's Health Starts With Healthy Children: How Do States Compare?, examines the health of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds in every state to document how healthy our nation's children are now and how healthy they could be if we as a nation were realizing our full health potential.

    See the Report

  • Income Is Linked With Health Regardless of Racial or Ethnic Group

    For children in the United States, differences in general health status by income do not simply reflect differences by race or ethnicity. Both income and racial or ethnic group are important for health.

More Resources

Perspectives

  • Stories

    Andrea Silva

    At Centura Health at Home in Denver, Andrea Silva resolved a struggle that many new mothers face – returning to work while continuing to provide nutritious breast milk for her baby. Meet Andrea Silva

     

    Abang Ojullu

    Abang Ojullu remembers all too vividly the day she put her eldest daughter on a small ambulance jet bound for Sioux Falls. The child’s asthma attack was too severe for doctors in rural Worthington, Minn. to treat. Meet Abang Ojullu

     

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  • Leadership Blog

    Guest Post: F as in Fat

    by Jim Marks, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
    July 02, 2009

    Yesterday I was involved in the RWJF and the Trust for America’s Health release of our annual F as in Fat report on obesity in the United States. This year’s findings were particularly interesting. Read More

    RWJF Priorities Intersect with the Commission's Recommendations

    by Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
    June 30, 2009

    The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America just completed a yearlong study and issued 10 recommendations for improving the health of all Americans. I was struck by how many of its suggestions matched our strategies for preventing childhood obesity. Read More

    Start Thinking Outside the Doctor's Office

    by Angela Glover Blackwell, Commissioner
    June 19, 2009

    As a contributor to The Washington Post’s Health Care Rx blog, I was asked to respond to President Obama’s health reform speech to the American Medical Association this week. In my response, “Start Thinking Outside the Doctor’s Office,” I challenge us all to think big about health reform and to consider the connection between our health and the places we live. Read More

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News and Events

  • D.C. Region Health Check Up: Wide Differences Based on Location

    June 30, 2009

    A new report detailing the health of residents in the Washington region shows where you live in the area could add or subtract nearly 10 years from your life. The Washington Council of Governments released a joint report detailing the connection between where someone lives in the region and the quality of their health. Read More

  • Washington Post: Ky. Schools' Healthy Example Could Shape a National Policy

    June 29, 2009

    As Congress moves to reauthorize childhood nutrition programs this summer, it is again taking up the issue of whether sugary sodas, chips and candy should be allowed in schools. Legislators have tried to limit junk food in schools since 1994. But each time the measures were blocked by powerful food lobbies, and conventional wisdom has long held that such snacks are a necessary evil because they provide key revenue to supplement the federal school-lunch program and help pay for sports and arts programs. Read More

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