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At the start of school, children move from a life of play and free interaction (in kindergarten) to a structured life (at school), with demands to concentrate, adapt to social demands, and learn.

For some children, starting school is the beginning of a life where they experience academic and social failure, and emotional and behavioral challenges.

Research to date has mostly focused on studies of preschoolers aged 2 to 5 and school-aged children over the age of 6, and there has been a lack of research on the important transitional phase between the ages of 5 and 7.

The CCC2000 studies focusing on this period were conducted in 2005-2007. More than 3500 children were studied based on extensive questionnaires and interviews with parents and educators. The questionnaires covered a broad spectrum of behavioral traits and problems that can be precursors to physical and mental health problems at school age, including physical health complaints and deviant eating behaviors.

We examined the child's mental strengths and weaknesses, and the full range of possible mental illnesses, including ADHD and Autism conditions, were mapped in terms of frequency and co-occurrence of multiple difficulties. CCC2000 was also the first research project to explore physical health complaints that could not be explained by a well-defined physical illness, so-called physical functional symptoms among 5-7-year-olds from the general population. It is precisely in the transition phase between kindergarten and school age that problematic eating behavior among children from the general population has been revealed, and the studies in CCC2000 have been able to uncover patterns of eating behavior in 5-7-year-old children and their correlation with concurrent mental health problems and physical health complaints.

Data from previous studies and from national registries are used to analyze associations between health problems over time.

From the studies at 5-7 years, research in CCC2000 has shown that mental health problems, physical health complaints and eating problems during this developmental period often occur simultaneously, and that in some cases there are signs that the child has already had difficulties in the first year of life.

For diseases such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorders, the studies of 5-7 year olds show an increased risk in children who had developmental problems in the first year of life. In addition, children with signs of mental health problems around the start of school were at increased risk of being diagnosed and treated for ADHD in the post-school years.

Overall, the results have increased our knowledge of how mental vulnerability can develop in preschool and school age, and pointed to several possible areas for prevention, much earlier than previously identified.

See list of our articles on this topic under publications​.