what is the most common risk factor in all life course stages

by Remington Stiedemann 3 min read

What is a risk factor?

A risk factor is a characteristic, condition, or behaviour that increases the likelihood of getting a disease or injury. Risk factors are often presented individually, however in practice they do not occur alone. They often coexist and interact with one another.

What are the risk factors in health and disease?

Risk factors in health and disease. 1 being overweight or obese. 2 high blood pressure. 3 high blood cholesterol. 4 high blood sugar (glucose). Demographic risk factors.

How do risk factors change with age?

Risk factors also change with age. Some risk factors almost exclusively affect children such as malnutrition and indoor smoke from solid fuels. For adults, there are considerable differences depending on age:

What are physiological and demographic risk factors?

Physiological risk factors are those relating to an individual’s body or biology. They may be influenced by a combination of genetic, lifestyle and other broad factors. Examples include: obeing overweight or obese ohigh blood pressure ohigh blood cholesterol ohigh blood sugar (glucose). Demographic risk factors

What are the stages of life course approach?

The four stages of the life course are childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Socialization continues throughout all these stages.

What is the name of the theory that suggests that risk factors for adults are a function of biological programming during critical periods of growth and development?

CRITICAL PERIOD MODEL Also known as “biological programming” or as a “latency model”,13 it underlies the fetal origins of adult disease hypothesis.

What is life course in sociology?

A life course is defined as "a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time". In particular, the approach focuses on the connection between individuals and the historical and socioeconomic context in which these individuals lived.

What is the life course health development model?

The life course health development (LCHD) framework organizes research from several fields into a conceptual approach explaining how individual and population health develops and how developmental trajectories are determined by interactions between biological and environmental factors during the lifetime.

What is meant by the life course perspective?

The life course perspective or life course theory (LCT) is a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the mental, physical and social health of individuals, which incorporates both life span and life stage concepts that determine the health trajectory.

What is the life course framework?

Charting the LifeCourse is a framework that was developed to help individuals and families of all abilities and at any age or stage of life develop a vision for a good life, think about what they need to know and do, identify how to find or develop supports, and discover what it takes to live the lives they want to ...

What factors influence our life course?

In this perspective, each life stage exerts influence on the next stage; social, economic, and physical environments also have influence throughout the life course. All these factors impact individual and community health.

What are the main assumptions of the life course theory?

Four key assumptions guide life course scholars' theoretical and empirical work: (1) lives are embedded in and shaped by historical context; (2) individuals construct their own lives through their choices and actions, yet within the constraints of historical and social circumstance; (3) lives are intertwined through ...

What is the life course theory quizlet?

Life course theory argues that specific events in one's life motivate one to desist from crimes, and this eventually prompts an individual to lead a normal life. These events are called turning points.

What is life course in health and social care?

A person's physical and mental health and wellbeing are influenced throughout life by the wider determinants of health. These are a diverse range of social, economic and environmental factors, alongside behavioural risk factors which often cluster in the population, reflecting real lives.

What does human development and the life course mean?

Abstract. A life-course perspective is applied to the study of human development in ecological context. Three meanings of age (developmental, social, and historical) represent key elements of this perspective and depict lives in terms of aging, career, and historical setting.

What is the health development?

The process of constant, progressive enhancement of the health status of a population. The notion of development as a managed process has been derived from work in the field of economic and social development studies, and is now being applied to health systems. Adapted from World Health Organization.

Summary

This resource for NHS and public health professionals focuses on taking a life course approach to the prevention of ill health and explores the evi...

A life course approach

A person’s physical and mental health and wellbeing are influenced throughout life by the wider determinants of health. These are a diverse range o...

Interventions across the life course

This section covers several recommended interventions across the life course selected by PHE for local government, the NHS and commissioners. It is...

Prioritising prevention of ill health

Now is the time to prioritise prevention of ill health. Action is needed by the NHS, by national government and by local government, all working in...

Resources

These resources can be used in presentations of your own or to share with colleagues: expanded interventions table supporting references Health mat...

What are genetic risk factors?

Genetic risk factors are based on an individual’s genes. Some diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy, come entirely from an individual’s ‘genetic make-up’. Many other diseases, such as asthma or diabetes, reflect the interaction between the genes of the individual and environmental factors. Other diseases, like sickle cell anaemia, are more prevalent in certain population subgroups.

What are the risk factors that affect children?

Risk factors also change with age. Some risk factors almost exclusively affect children such as malnutrition and indoor smoke from solid fuels. For adults, there are considerable differences depending on age:

What are the factors that affect health?

Health and wellbeing are affected by many factors – those linked to poor health , disability, disease or death , are known as risk factors. A risk factor is a characteristic, condition, or behaviour that increases the likelihood of getting a disease or injury. Risk factors are often presented individually, however in practice they do not occur alone. They often coexist and interact with one another. For example, physical inactivity will, over time, cause weight gain, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. Together, these significantly increase the chance of developing chronic heart diseases and other health related problems. Ageing populations and longer life expectancy have led to an increase in long-term (chronic), expensive-to-treat diseases and disabilities.

What are the risk factors for teenage drivers?

Risk factors for motor vehicle crashes that are particularly elevated among teenage drivers include: Distraction while driving, including from using cell phones and texting 3. Driving at excessive speeds, close following, and other risky driving 4. Drinking and driving.

Do teenage boys have more car crashes than girls?

Being male. Teenage boys, especially ones with male passengers, are involved in more car crashes than teenage girls. However, the number of females involved in car crashes is increasing. 6

What is the life course health development model?

The Life Course Health Development (LCHD) model posits that myriad factors (e.g., biological, psychological, cultural) on multiple levels (e.g., micro, meso, macro) interact simultaneously in a transactional fashion to influence an individual’s LCHD during each stage to determine a “health developmental” trajectory (see also Halfon and Forrest 2017). The Life Course Health Development (LCHD) model further posits that transitions and pivotal points in an individual’s life have the potential to influence and alter an individual’s developmental pathways. EA is a life stage characterized by changes in person-context cognitive, emotional, physical, and social domains, and the ultimate pathway achieved by the emerging adults during this stage is determined by the ongoing, dynamic, and reciprocal interactions between the individual and their environment. The degree of agency and role exploration that characterizes EA results in the potential for growth in intellectual and emotional functioning (Arnett 2000). EA represents a broad and diverse but fundamentally important area of consideration by virtue of the multiple avenues through which an individual’s developmental trajectories and outcomes may be influenced. Important developmental challenges during EA include the continued formation of identity and values, which occur in the midst of frequent changes in personal relationships, living arrangements, vocational and educational pursuits, and social roles (Shanahan 2000).

What is the emerging adult stage?

At the beginning of this stage, 17–18 years of age, emerging adults are generally dependent, living with their parents or caretakers, beginning to engage in romantic relationships, and attending high school. At the end of this stage, mid- to late 20s, most emerging adults live independently, are in long-term relationships, and have clear career paths ahead of them. How they traverse this life stage is dependent upon the personal, family, and social resources they possess as they enter this stage of life, dynamic and reciprocal interaction between the emerging adult and their environment, and the supports they receive during this stage. The result is that there are many pathways that youth and young adults pursue through this stage to achieve stable adulthood. For example, 40% do not pursue post-high school education. While 60% entered college immediately after graduating high school, many drop out or interrupt their college education with periods of work. Some 33% in this stage remain unmarried; however, 67% of them achieve stable domestic partners. Importantly, only a minority of emerging adults are employed in full-time jobs, limiting the economic opportunities they experience (U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2006).

What is the developmental trajectory of an emerging adult?

The continued positive trajectory of the emerging adult’s mental health, identity formation, education achievement, social relationships, and other developmental areas is somewhat dependent on the degree to which there are matches or mismatches between the individual and his/her resources and the environmental challenges and supports. If the transition, such as school to work, provides a reasonable and developmentally appropriate challenge and the emerging adult successfully navigates that challenge, then the developmental trajectory of the emerging adult will be enhanced. In contrast, if the same transition lacks supports or is an inappropriate match for the emerging adult’s abilities (e.g., an inadequate vocational program for an emerging adult with a learning disorder or lack of support for chronic disease management) and the emerging adult experiences failure, then the developmental trajectory may be impaired, resulting in significantly less achievement or developmental progression across the lifespan. A major defining characteristic of the stage of EA is that contexts are changing significantly (family to independence or romantic relationships, school to work or disconnected state, dependent living to independent living arrangements). The changes are so significant that emerging adults need substantial supports to navigate the transition successfully. Emerging adults with disabilities or chronic health conditions require more support to maximize their potential development during EA (Table 1).

Is identity formation a milestone?

Identity formation during adolescence was thought to be a critical milestone in adolescence; however, it has been recognized that in certain socie tal contexts, identity formation continues beyond adolescence. In the postindustrial society, with the prolongation of educational and vocational attainment, prolongation of identity exploration in the three main areas of love, work, and worldviews into the 20s has become the norm. Identity formation is critical in EA, as it has direct implications on psychological and moral identity and in achieving the three qualities of character deemed as important in the transition to adulthood.

Why is life course important?

Health is also linked across life phases. A life course approach helps optimise people’s health and well-being at all ages.

What is the leading cause of death for younger adolescent girls?

Later childhood and early adolescence (5–14 years) Girls aged 5-9 have a relatively high risk of dying from preventable infectious diseases such as lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, or malaria. Lower respiratory infections are also the leading cause of death for younger adolescent girls aged 10–14 years.

Why are women over 65 more likely to fall?

Women over the age of 65 have much higher rates of injuries due to falling than men – possibly related to frailty, osteoporosis and other underlying chronic conditions. Consequent fractures, limit quality of life and functional ability.These are often ignored because they are incorrectly seen as an inevitable part of ageing or less serious than such conditions as heart disease or cancer.

What are the most common diseases in women in later adulthood?

Later adulthood (65 to 79 and 80 years and over) Regardless of where they live, the biggest killers of women at this life stage are heart disease, stroke, and chronic lung disease . Many of these are associated with modifiable risk factors in adolescence and early adulthood, including smoking, unhealthy diets, and sedentary lifestyles. ...

What are the health problems women face in their post-reproduction years?

Women may face chronic conditions, such as obstetric fistula, pelvic pain and incontinence as a result of their pregnancies.

Why are women more at risk for depression than men?

Associated risk factors include women’s subordinate status, stressors and negative life experiences including violence and the disproportionate burden of care for others .

Which region has the highest burden of HIV among adolescent girls and young women?

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region which has the highest burden of HIV among adolescent girls and young women. Young women and girls are subject to a range of harmful practices and violence, including early marriage; every year, 12 million girls get married before the age of 18 years.

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