Scientific journals from around the world have agreed to take part this year in a global themed issue on aging—an initiative coordinated by JAMA. How do we justify a contribution from the Archives of Disease in Childhood to this important theme? One thing that distinguishes paediatric practice is that health and disease are observed against a background of growth and development. Perhaps analogous to this is the practice of geriatrics, where biological senescence, and all its psychosocial implications, is the backdrop against which health and disease are observed. Yet this philosophy becomes clouded when we consider that development and aging (or senescence) cannot be readily pulled apart. Although development implies an advantageous adaption to life, and aging implies irreversible deterioration it is none the less true that development is not only a precursor of aging but also influences it profoundly.

If we are serious about health promotion as a science we need to have a better understanding of the factors that govern the various markers of morbidity in adult life, such as obesity. The relationship between parental obesity and obesity in childhood is well known. In this issue,Julie Lake and colleagues (see p 376), using …