The Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease

Abstract

The search for the causes of chronic adult diseases and the way to prevent them has largely failed. For example, there are now 350 million people around the world who have type 2 diabetes. Hitherto, the search has been guided by a destructive model in which the causes to be identified are adverse environmental influences that act in adult life and accelerate processes associated with normal aging, such as hardening of the arteries and rising blood pressure. This model of causation has had limited success. Cigarette smoking and psychosocial stress go only a small way in explaining why one person lives a short life and another lives to old age. The recent discovery that people who develop coronary heart disease grew differently than other people in the womb and during childhood has led to a new 'developmental' model for the disease. During development, adverse influences can permanently change the structure and function of the body, a phenomenon known as 'programming.' Much of human development is completed during the first 1,000 days after conception—during intrauterine life and infancy. Prevention of chronic disease and an increase in healthy aging require improvement in the nutrition of girls and young women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)