Childhood Health and Chronic Illness

Children's health has profound and sustained consequences for later life. Although child morbidity and mortality have been greatly reduced over the past few decades due to medical discoveries, immunization efforts, and improved technology, many children continue to face poor health due to poverty or related issues, behavioral risk factors, and chronic illness or disability. In this chapter, we provide a state-of-the-art summary of research on children's health and its developmental consequences.