Nutrition before birth, programming and the perpetuation of social inequalities in health

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dc.contributor.authorMoore, V.
dc.contributor.authorDavies, M.
dc.date.issued2002
dc.descriptionThe definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com
dc.description.abstractThe need to explain social inequalities in health has led to the theory that chronic disease is due, in part, to a legacy of adverse experiences in early life. Epidemiological studies show consistently that individuals who are small at birth have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. There is growing consensus that this association reflects a causal relationship and is not simply the product of bias or confounding. The concept of programming is invoked as the biological mechanism; birth size is thus a proxy for fetal programming. Recent findings suggest that fetal programming interacts with the post-birth environment. The adverse exposures that are thought to underlie and potentiate programming cluster in socially patterned ways, thus creating substantial inequalities in health. Experiments in animals demonstrate that nutritional interventions before or during pregnancy can produce programming phenomena in the offspring, sometimes without an impact on birth size. However, the extent to which maternal nutrition contributes to programming in contemporary developed countries is uncertain.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityVivienne Moore and Michael Davies
dc.identifier.citationAsia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2002; 11(s3):S529-S536
dc.identifier.doi10.1046/j.1440-6047.11.supp3.16.x
dc.identifier.issn0964-7058
dc.identifier.issn1440-6047
dc.identifier.orcidMoore, V. [0000-0001-9505-6450]
dc.identifier.orcidDavies, M. [0000-0002-5809-7541] [0000-0003-1526-0801]
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/7952
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherBlackwell Science Asia
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-6047.11.supp3.16.x
dc.subjectAnimals
dc.subjectHumans
dc.subjectPregnancy Complications
dc.subjectPrenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
dc.subjectCardiovascular Diseases
dc.subjectNutrition Disorders
dc.subjectObesity
dc.subjectHealth Status
dc.subjectPregnancy
dc.subjectInfant, Newborn
dc.subjectInfant, Low Birth Weight
dc.subjectFemale
dc.subjectPrenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
dc.titleNutrition before birth, programming and the perpetuation of social inequalities in health
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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