Research
Mixed
Chronic disease risk is determined by cumulative exposures throughout the life course, with fetal development and early childhood acting as critical periods for biological programming of adult metabolic and cardiovascular health.
Prevention of chronic disease must begin before birth. Public health strategies should focus on maternal nutrition, avoiding fetal growth restriction, and ensuring healthy early childhood growth to program lower risk for adult cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Adult chronic disease, therefore, reflects cumulative differential lifetime exposures to damaging physical and social environments... There is increasing evidence that these risks begin in fetal life and continue into old age.
Why this rating
Based on extensive review of historical cohorts, famine studies, and WHO reports, though some specific associations (like birth weight vs BP) are noted as conflicting.
Source
A life course approach to diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases
Ian Darnton‐Hill et al. · Public Health Nutrition · 2004
DOI 10.1079/phn2003584
narrative_reviewCited 419×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Low birth weight (indicative of intra-uterine growth retardation) is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes in adulthood.Good
- Breastfeeding is associated with lower blood pressure in childhood and a lower risk of developing obesity later in life compared to formula feeding.Moderate
Related findings · Mixed
- Bariatric surgery (VSG and RYGB) is the most effective and sustainable treatment for obesity, producing marked and sustained weight loss that non-surgical interventions cannot match.Strong
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- For patients with Class III obesity (BMI >39.9 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) is significantly more effective than any currently approved medication, with BilioPancreatic Diversion (BPD) showing the highest estimated weight loss.Strong
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