Developmental origins of non-communicable disease: Implications for research and public health

This White Paper highlights the developmental period as a plastic phase, which allows the organism to adapt to changes in the environment to maintain or improve reproductive capability in part through sustained health. Plasticity is more prominent prenatally and during early postnatal life, i.e., during the time of cell differentiation and specific tissue formation. These developmental periods are highly sensitive to environmental factors, such as nutrients, environmental chemicals, drugs, infections and other stressors. Nutrient and toxicant effects share many of the same characteristics and reflect two sides of the same coin. In both cases, alterations in physiological functions can be induced and may lead…

• WH
  World Health Organization
• BH
  British Heart Foundation
• EE
  European Environment Agency
• UP
  Université Paris Descartes
• IP
  Institut pour la Recherche en Santé Publique
• NI
  National Institutes of Health