Researchers claim that stress suffered during childhood has deeper implications, which show at a later stage. According to a study of children from Romanian orphanages, the effects of childhood stress could be visible in the DNA on growing up, reports Nature.

It is now proved that children who spent their early years in state-run Romanian orphanages have shorter telomeres than the ones who grew up in foster families. Biologically, telomeres get slightly shorter each time a chromosome replicates during cell division. However, it has now emerged that stress may also result in their shortening.