Description
The overarching argument of the conceptual paradigm and the research field of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) is that the state of health and risk from disease in later childhood and adult life is significantly affected by environmental factors acting during the preconceptional, prenatal, and/or early postnatal periods. The emphasis has been on obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease, but a significant body of work has also been focused on endocrine cancers, osteoporosis and frailty in the elderly, mental health, cognitive function, respiratory disease, immune function, and allergy. While the field as currently constructed is just over two decades old, it is based on research that goes back to the 1930s.