Primary prevention: why focus on children & young adolescents?

A focus on children and young adolescents in the primary prevention of health risks and disorders such as cancer, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, HIV/AIDS, and obesity has been suggested in many reports published throughout the world. Such a focus is important in India as it has a huge adolescents and children population along with the existing economic, social, and health inequalities among the general population. We propose a systematic elucidation of the rationale for such a focus in primary prevention research. We have reviewed studies describing risk factors, the association between risk factors and disease outcomes in affected patients, exposed populations, adolescent samples, as well as reports from studies conducted in India, and the quantitative and qualitative statistical aspects of research. The literature indicates that a lengthy time interval occurs between exposure to high risk factors and the development of disease, and that many such high risk exposures begin in young adolescence. These findings underline the value of targeting children and adolescents for primary prevention efforts in health care and health education for the attainment of overall healthy population in any country including a country like India.