Primordial prevention

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Primordial prevention

• by Sorin Ursoniu, MD, PhD

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Why is primordial prevention important?
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Learning Performance Objectives
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Prevention

• Disease prevention includes measures not only to
  prevent the occurrence of disease, such as risk
  factor reduction, but also to arrest its progress
  and reduce its consequences once established.

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Levels of prevention (I)
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Levels of prevention (II)
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Definition

• Primordial prevention is defined as prevention of
  risk factors themselves, beginning with change in
  social and environmental conditions in which
  these factors are observed to develop, and
  continuing for high risk children, adolescents
  and young adults.

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• Primordial prevention, a relatively new concept,
  is receiving special attention in the prevention
  of chronic diseases. For example, many adult
  health problems (e.g. obesity, hypertension) have
  their early origins in childhood, because this is
  the time when lifestyles are formed.

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• General access to energy-dense diets coupled with
  typically sedentary urban lifestyles creates a
  trend toward obesity and chronic disease.

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• It is important to change the milieu that
  promotes major risk factor development.
  Primordial prevention calls for changing the
  socio-economic status of society. A better
  socio-economic status correlates inversely with
  lifestyle factors like smoking, abnormal food
  patterns and exercise.

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• Primordial prevention begins in childhood when
  health risk behaviour begins. Parents, teachers
  and peer groups are important in imparting health
  education to children.

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• Cost-effectiveness of primordial prevention

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• The cost of prevention
• can we afford it?
• can we afford not to do it?

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Examples of primordial prevention actions
(I)National policies and programmes on
nutrition involving the agricultural sector, the
food industry, and the food import-export sector
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Examples of primordial prevention actions
(II)Comprehensive policies to discourage
smoking
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Examples of primordial prevention actions
(III)Programmes to promote regular physical
activity
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Responsibilities for primordial prevention

• Government
• Professional and non-governmental organisations
• Industry
• Hospitals, health clinics, health practitioners
  and health-care workers

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• Making major changes in lifestyle (I)

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• Making major changes in lifestyle (II)

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Perspectives