Children from wealthier families have less stress and longer life expectancies than poorer kids — who may be put at a “biological disadvantage,” a new study found.
Low-income kids produce as much as 23% more cortisol — the “stress hormone” — than their wealthier peers, aging their cells a whopping 10 years, according to researchers at the Imperial College London.
The study, which included 1,160 5- to 12-year-olds from the United Kingdome, France, Spain, Norway, Lithuania and Greece, was the largest done on the associations between wealth, cortisol and telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that determine biological age.
It determined wealth using the international Family Affluence Scale, which is common in studies on child health and well-being.
It looks at factors like car and electronics ownership, shared bedrooms and vacations abroad to measure socioeconomic status.
The researchers used cortisol, measured through urine, as an indication of psychosocial stress and telomeres, analyzed through blood and DNA analysis, as a marker of cellular stress.
Telomeres become shortened with age, and by the body releasing hormones like cortisol to respond to stress, which causes “biological wear and tear” on cells.
Environmental and genetic factors are believed to impact the speed at which telomeres shorten.
Kids from higher income families had telomeres of up to 5% longer than their peers, according to the June 5 study published in The Lancet.
“For some children, their economic background may put them at a biological disadvantage compared to those who have a better start in life,” said Dr. Oliver Robinson, one of the study’s authors.
“By failing to address this, we are setting children on a lifelong trajectory where they may be more likely to have less healthy and shorter lives,” Robinson added.
Researchers said links between stress and shortened telomeres have been studied in adulthood but not childhood, when interventions can still be made to mitigate the risk of diseases including cancer and type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular problems that impact longevity and quality of life.
“It may be that children from less affluent backgrounds are experiencing greater psychosocial stress,” explained Imperial researcher Kendal Marston.
“For example, they may be sharing a bedroom with family members, or they may not have the resources they need for school — like access to a computer for homework,” Marsten explained in a university publication.
The academics urged policy makers to focus on early interventions that reduce the “burden of mortality” and age-related disease.
