 Pregnancy and birth cohorts have been used extensively to investigate the developmental origins of health and disease, with particular focus on understanding the etiology of obesity and related cardiometabolic disorders. Researchers have also used these cohorts to measure cardiometabolic risk factors in childhood and adolescence, which can then be used to identify early causes and develop preventative measures. These factors include dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity, which are known to track from childhood into adulthood. This review summarizes the evidence that these factors, when measured in childhood, can be used to assess the risk of adult cardiometabolic diseases. Additionally, it describes some of the methods for assessing cardiometabolic risk in children. This article was authored by R. C. Huang, Susan L. Prescott, Keith M. Godfrey, and others.