Frederick Douglass said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” This idea is underscored by a groundbreaking study completed more than 20 years ago to examine the impact of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, on an individual’s lifetime health and well-being.

The ACEs Study, undertaken in 1995 by Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sought to determine why some of their patients weren’t improving despite their best treatment efforts. Their discovery was remarkable, and their conclusions increasingly shape our understanding of childhood, trauma, education, and nearly all areas of public health.

The study identified 10 primary areas of adverse childhood experiences that range from physical and sexual child abuse, neglect, violence in the family, addiction, incarceration and mental illness. The study found that these experiences in childhood are linked to some of the most challenging and pervasive illnesses in adulthood, including heart and lung disease, obesity and diabetes.

As the number of ACEs experienced increases, so does the level of risk for lifelong health and social problems. If an individual has experienced four or more ACEs, the likelihood of chronic pulmonary lung disease increases 390 percent; depression increases by 460 percent; and suicide increases by 1,220 percent.

To continue reading this guest commentary by Dennis Meier, associate executive director of Synergy Services and vice chair of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Healthy KC Behavioral Health Action Team, go to: