Physical activity and health of college men: longitudinal observations.

The College Alumni Health Study has examined host and environmental characteristics in youth and adult life as they relate to subsequent development of specific chronic diseases. Campus archives have provided physical, psychological, and social data on some 57,500 men and women who were born between 1896 and 1934, and who entered Harvard College or the University of Pennsylvania between 1916 and 1950, generally at age 17-20 years. These college data have been studied subsequently to assess whether characteristics in youth predisposed students to chronic diseases (nonfatal and fatal) later in life. Follow-up questionnaires, mailed to alumni, generally aged 35-85 years, in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s have provided mid-life information on the health status and health habits of survivors, and official death certificates have provided data on decedents. This information has been studied, in fashion similar to the college data, for personal characteristics and ways of living that influenced health and longevity of these middle-aged and elderly men. Longitudinal observations continue today, in search of causes of specific chronic diseases.