Five childhood risk factors found to increase likelihood of stroke, heart attacks in adulthood

In the world’s largest study of its type, the International Childhood Cardiovascular Consortium found blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, triglycerides and smoking in childhood were linked to cardiovascular events in adulthood, serving as predictors for fatal and non-fatal events. Many of these issues were linked to cardiovascular events before, but this research provides evidence that these risk factors can be present even in early childhood. It concludes that the results justify a greater emphasis on programs to prevent the development of these risk factors in children and public health professionals should start to focus on how this might best be achieved.