How Where You Grow Up Can Shape Your Heart Health Later in Life
Does where you live during your childhood affect your heart health?
Most of us know that things like smoking, high blood pressure, and diet affect heart health. But where you live, especially over many years, can also matter. This study proves that even if you are not exposed to any risk factors in adulthood, the things you were exposed to during childhood would still haunt you.
What Did the Study Look At?
Researchers followed about 2,000 people from childhood (around age 10) into midlife (around age 48) as part of a long-term study in Finland. They first studied how disadvantaged the childhood neighbourhood was by measuring unemployment rates in that area, mean education levels, and other factors.
Then, when the participants reached their 40s and moved on with their lives, doctors used ultrasound to check their carotid arteries (the vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain) for plaques (fatty buildups that could later completely block your blood vessels).
What Did They Find?
📍 Long-Term Neighbourhood Disadvantage Linked to More Arterial Plaques
They found that participants who were exposed to such conditions for a longer period of time throughout their childhood had higher chances of having more plaques.
This showed that when social conditions accumulate over a lifetime, such as fewer local resources, less access to healthy food and safe places to exercise, and higher stress, they may affect how early arterial disease develops.
📉 Behaviours Like Smoking and Blood Pressure Play a Role
Smoking and blood pressure have always been significantly associated with heart issues. They found a link such that:
People from disadvantaged childhood neighbourhoods ➡️ More chances of smoking or having high blood pressure ➡️ More chances of affected heart health in later stages
Why This Matters to You
This study shows that heart health is influenced by your childhood neighbourhood and may affect your heart even before symptoms appear.
It highlights two important points:
Heart health isn’t just about personal choices - the places people live and grow up in can shape risk over time.
Early prevention matters - supporting healthy lifestyles from a young age could reduce the impact of lifelong damage.
What This Means for Communities and Policy
Public health experts suggest improving childhood neighbourhoods by providing accessible playgrounds, raising awareness among parents and child welfare associations, ensuring medical care, and promoting education for all. This could boost heart health in communities.
This could, in turn, lead to the elderly living better and healthier lives in their later years when they are unable to take care of themselves.
Simple Tips for Heart Health (Regardless of Where You Live)
Even though the place where you live influences your heart health, precaution and awareness could help improve your life. Taking small actions could lead to bigger changes.
Stay active
Eat a healthy diet
Avoid smoking and alcohol
Undergo regular checkups
Take-Home Message
Growing up and living in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhood over many years may increase the risk of early heart disease. Lifestyle behaviours explain part of this risk, but broader social and environmental conditions are also important. Addressing both personal health and community conditions can be a powerful way to protect heart health over a lifetime.
Source: Raitakari, Olli et al. “Neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage from childhood to midlife and carotid atherosclerosis.” International journal of cardiology, vol. 450 134216. 2 Feb. 2026, doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2026.134216
