What Adult Problems Can Start with Fetal Undernutrition?

Discussion Developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) is a scientific hypothesis that proposes that fetal nutrition has permanent effects on growth, metabolism, and structure. These changes, or biological programming, are felt to occur at critical periods in fetal development “…when developmental changes in the organism towards increasing complexity, greater plasticity, and more efficient functioning occurs rapidly and may be most easily modified either in favorable or unfavorable directions.” Fetal undernutrition has been studied more than overnutrition, and various nutritional components (protein, micronutrients) have been studied but to a lesser degree. Exposure to fetal undernutrition during these critical periods may create a “thrifty phenotype” where adaptions to the fetal nutrient-limited environment allows the fetus to survive, but induces permanent changes that later on are unhealthy. Epidemiological studies linking birthweight to adult chronic diseases have shown a variety of outcomes (see Learning Point below). Many times the relationship shows a “U” shaped pattern of extremes of birth weight (lowest and highest) having the greatest risks of adult chronic diseases. Although not entirely elucidated, it is felt that fetal programming through epigenetics is at least part of the mechanism. “Epigenetics encompasses change to marks on the genome that are copied from one cell generation to the next, which may alter...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news