Coronary heart disease from a life-course approach: findings from the health and retirement study, 1998-2004.

OBJECTIVE: Guided by a life-course approach to chronic disease, this study examined the ways in which childhood deprivation (low parental education and father's manual occupation) may be associated with coronary heart disease (CHD).

METHOD: Multilevel modeling techniques and a nationally representative sample of Americans above age 50 from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N = 18,465) were used to examine childhood and CHD relationships over the course of 6 years (1998-2004).

RESULTS: Having a father with

DISCUSSION: Policies and programs aimed at improving the conditions of poor children and their families may effectively reduce the prevalence of CHD in later life.