* The developmental origins of well-being

Abstract

Low birthweight is now known to be associated with increased rates of coronary heart disease and the related disorders, stroke, hypertension and adult-onset diabetes. These associations have been extensively replicated in studies in different countries and are not the result of confounding variables. They extend across the normal range of birthweight and depend on lower birthweights in relation to the duration of gestation rather than the effects of premature birth. The associations are thought to be consequences of developmental plasticity, the phenomenon by which one genotype can give rise to a range of different physiological or morphological states in response to different environmental conditions during development. Recent observations have shown that impaired growth in infancy and rapid childhood weight gain exacerbate the effects of impaired prenatal growth. A new vision of optimal early human development is emerging, which takes account of health and well-being throughout life.

Late gestation supplementation of beef cows differing in body condition score: Effects on cow and calf performance1,2

“…Research has suggested that an insult to nutrition of the dam during gestation can influence the long-term health and productivity of offspring through a process that has been termed fetal, or developmental, programming (Barker, 2004;Wu et al, 2006;Reynolds et al, 2010). A growing body of evidence suggests that gestational nutrition can alter offspring body composition and growth, hormonal balance, cardiovascular development, metabolic function, neonatal health, organ development and function (Wu et al, 2006;Long et al, 2009), and gene expression (Long et al, 2010b).…”

Unhealthy Maternal Lifestyle Leads to Rapid Infant Weight Gain: Prevention of Future Chronic Diseases

“…More recently, studies have suggested that infant weight (which reflects the rate of weight gain) is more important than birth weight in predicting adult chronic diseases (Eriksson et al 2003). Additionally, a number of studies have shown that rapid weight gain (i.e., catch-up weight gain) is associated with later obesity and chronic adult diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (Eriksson et al 2003;Barker 2004;Eriksson 2005).…”

Percentile growth charts for biomedical studies using a porcine model

“…Use of the porcine centile reference curves Increasing birth weight and ensuring optimal growth in the first year of life can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (Barker, 2004). Similarly, thinness at birth and at 1 year of age are associated with early adiposity rebound (when BMI decreases in early childhood before increasing again between 3 and 8 or more years of age), which is associated with impaired glucose tolerance (Bhargava et al, 2004).…”

“…Poor weight gain and slow growth have been linked to cot death (Sinclair-Smith et al, 1976), developmental delay (Dowdney et al, 1987), ischaemic heart disease (Barker et al, 1989), non-insulindependent diabetes and hypercholesterolaemia (Barker, 1995a and1995b). The Developmental Origins of Adult Disease (DOAD) hypothesis proposes that pre-and postnatal growth and development influence health in later life (Barker, 2004).…”