¹Edwin Amachree, ²Victor Lambongang, ³Chelsea Raviro Mazonde, ⁴Aminat Adebukola Amunigun

¹Department of Biology and Chemistry, Liberty University, Virginia, USA.

 ORCID:0009-0008-3597-0484

²Department of Public Health, Liberty University. Virginia, USA.

 ORCID: 0009-0004-8592-6810

³Department of Public Health, Liberty University. Virginia, USA.

ORCID: 0009-0001-5124-7746

⁴Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Alabama A&M University. Alabama, USA.

ORCID: 0009-0000-8285-8032

Corresponding Author: Edwin Amachree, Department of Biology and Chemistry, Liberty University, Virginia, USA. ORCID:0009-0008-3597-0484

Citation: Edwin Amachree, Victor Lambongang, Chelsea Raviro Mazonde, Aminat Adebukola Amunigun (2026) Early-Life Determinants of Cardiovascular Risk. The Impact of Nutrition, Socioeconomic Status, and Environmental Factors on Childhood Obesity and Hypertension. World J Intervent Cardiol Rep, 2(1);1-7.

CopyRights© 2026, Edwin Amachree, et al., This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death globally, and risk accumulation begins early in the life course. Childhood obesity is a major upstream driver of long term cardiometabolic risk, and recent surveillance confirms high and rising prevalence in both global and national contexts.

Objective: This paper examines how early life nutrition, socioeconomic status, and environmental exposures shape pathways to childhood obesity and pediatric hypertension, with a quantitative synthesis using nationally reported estimates to illustrate key gradients and links.

Methods: We developed an integrated life course conceptual framework grounded in DOHaD and social determinants theory, then conducted a secondary quantitative analysis using publicly reported NHANES based estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics and CDC reports. We extracted trend tables on obesity and severe obesity among U.S. youth ages 2 to 19, and guideline based estimates of hypertension among youth and its variation by weight status, sex, age, and race and ethnicity.

Results: U.S. obesity prevalence among ages 2 to 19 increased from 5.2% in 1971 to 1974 to 21.1% in August 2021 to August 2023, and severe obesity rose from 1.0% to 7.0% over the same horizon. In NHANES 2013 to 2016, youth hypertension prevalence under the 2017 AAP criteria was 4.11%, rising sharply with obesity, reaching 9.43% for obesity overall and 14.70% for severe obesity. Obesity prevalence also displayed a strong income gradient, ranging from 11.5% at above 350% of the federal poverty level to 25.8% at or below 130% of the federal poverty level.

Conclusion: Early life nutrition, socioeconomic disadvantage, and environmental conditions plausibly interact to increase childhood obesity and pediatric hypertension through shared behavioral, psychosocial, and biological pathways, and the obesity pathway appears central for hypertension risk concentration in youth.

Keywords: Childhood obesity. Hypertension. Early life determinants. Socioeconomic status. Nutrition. Environmental exposure. Cardiovascular risk. Life course epidemiology.