If you can lessen their chances of having a headache in childhood, it may well reduce their chances of the adult consequences

Dr Paul Fearon

All three outcomes were more common in women and those from a working-class background.

All 11,000 children were checked at ages seven, 11, 16, 23 and 33 as part of a national child development study.

At 33, about 10% of people who had complained of childhood headaches were experiencing one or more of the following ailments: backache, bad headaches, indigestion, upset stomach, pains in the eyes, heart racing, rheumatism or arthritis.

Psychiatrist Dr Paul Fearon, who carried out the study, said: "The fact remains the majority of children with childhood headaches do not grow up with persistent physical and psychiatric symptoms, but they are more at risk than those who don't complain of such symptoms.

"The implications of this study are that if children complain of a recurrent headache to their school, doctor or parents, the underlying causes for such a complaint should be investigated.

"If you can lessen their chances of having a headache in childhood, it may well reduce their chances of the adult consequences."

Scepticism

Other medical experts remain sceptical of the findings.

Dr Anne MacGregor, director of Clinical Research at the City of London Migraine Clinic, said it is unclear whether headache is a symptom of psychological disorder, or whether susceptibility to headache is linked to susceptibility of psychological disorder.

She said: "It's not a good thing to go around saying people with migraine will go on to develop psychological disorders."

Headache facts

Headaches cost the UK about �3bn per year, through missed working days and NHS costs Nine out of 10 people will suffer from a headache at some point in their lives One-in-15 people suffers from a continuous headache

Pointing to studies from Finland, which show that prevalence of migraine and headaches among children is increasing, Dr MacGregor says other criteria need to be taken into consideration, including environmental factors.

In 1974, of 1,927 seven-year-olds starting school, the prevalence of migraine was 1.9 per cent.

In a similar study of 1,436 seven-year-olds undertaken by the same primary author in the same school in 1992, migraine prevalence had increased to 5.7 per cent.

Although the exact reasons for this increasing prevalence is unknown, factors such as increased stresses and family breakdown were considered as possible contributing factors.

Evidence shows that the prevalence of headaches in childhood is increasing steadily in the developed world.

If this is so, Dr Fearon believes there may well be a corresponding increase in physical and psychiatric symptoms as today's children become adults.

The research is published in the British Medical Journal.