Life-Course Exposures and Digestive Health and Disease

The field of life course epidemiology in public health offers a powerful lens for understanding how exposures and determinants across critical periods jointly influence chronic disease risk, including digestive diseases. Substantial research now indicates that digestive health is not solely dictated by adulthood choices or hereditary factors, but is continuously shaped by an interplay of biological, behavioral, environmental, and social influences starting from preconception and spanning early childhood through older age. Evidence is mounting for the roles of environmental exposures, socio-economic circumstances, psychosocial stressors, and health behaviors, each embedded in broader contexts of social inequalities, in both the development, progression and prognosis of major digestive disorders, such as gastroduodenal ulcer, inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, and gastrointestinal cancers. Nonetheless, major questions remain about which exposures, at what life stages, most critically influence risk, how social and biological determinants interact over time, and what measures can most effectively reduce health disparities related to digestive diseases.This Research Topic aims to synthesize and advance knowledge on how life course exposures, embedded within social structures and biological systems, contribute to digestive disease risk and survival. The objective is to unravel the complexity by examining both direct and indirect pathways linking social determinants, health behaviors, environmental and psychosocial exposures to digestive health. Special attention will be paid to mechanisms of biological embedding, including epigenetic processes, immune and metabolic programming and gut microbiome development, the role of cumulative disadvantage, and opportunities for prevention and intervention in the context of social inequalities and access to care. Ultimately, this work seeks to inform targeted strategies that address both the roots and the ramifications of digestive disease disparities at a population level.The scope of this Research Topic is defined by its focus on life course epidemiological approaches to digestive disease, attending to the range and interplay of biological, behavioral, psychosocial, and social determinants as they operate across key stages of life. We invite studies that contribute empirical evidence, theoretical frameworks, or methodological advances in this area, including studies using longitudinal data, causal inference approaches, and innovative modeling of exposure timing and accumulation. To gather further insights in this field, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Biological and social determinants of health behaviors impacting digestive disease risk and progression• Mechanisms of biological embedding of life course exposures in digestive health• The influence of social inequalities and cumulative disadvantage on digestive disease incidence and outcomes• Life course exposures (environmental, behavioral, and psychosocial) and their role in non-communicable digestive disease epidemiology• Access to health care and its role in mediating digestive health across social strata• Life course epidemiological studies of digestive disease with a focus on prevention and disease management• Interventions targeting critical periods to reduce digestive disease inequalities• Methodological advances in life course epidemiology (e.g., trajectory analysis, causal modeling) Topic editors: YICHI YANG, Fei He, Jianhui Zhao, Zhengwei Wan, Nianqi Cui Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80370/life-course-exposures-and-digestive-health-and-disease