Implications of early life and contemporary exposures on body composition, human capital, mental health, and precursors of complex chronic diseases in three Brazilian cohorts (1982, 1993 and 2004).

Health and nutrition conditions in middle-income country populations are changing rapidly. Chronic-degenerative diseases, overweight, mental diseases and violence account for a major share of the burden of disease. Populations that suffered from diseases of poverty in early life now face chronic-degenerative conditions as adults, and social inequalities are rampant. Epidemiological findings from developed countries cannot be automatically extrapolated to these fast-evolving populations. We are s tudying three large population-based birth cohorts (1982, 1993 and 2004) in Pelotas, Brazil, each with 4,000+ members; the two older cohorts are currently at their peak of their phenotypic development. We plan to relate key outcomes measured in adolescence and young adulthood - nutrition and body composition, precursors of chronic diseases, mental health and human capital to early-life exposures, including gene-environment interactions, while also collecting high-quality information that can b e later related to future morbidity and mortality. Comparisons across the three cohorts will document time trends in health indicators, relating them to socioeconomic, cultural, environmental and health care changes. Our proposal combines the disciplines of epidemiology, anthropology, psychology, clinical sciences and molecular biology. Young Latin American investigators will be trained in life course studies, and findings will be proactively disseminated to scientists and policy makers.