Early Life Nutrition, Adult Health and Development

Clinical, experimental and epidemiological studies suggest that chronic diseases may have their origin during early life and that early nutrition could be a key factor. New DNA technologies have been applied to evaluate possible long-term changes after exposure to famine in early life. These new instruments may clarify possible biological mechanisms linking early-life nutritional insults to health in adulthood. This book presents a state of the art overview of possible mechanisms for nutritional programming in relation to changes in dietary patterns. It also provides examples of nutrition deprivation in various famine settings around the world, mostly during conditions of war or political strife, and of the short and long-term outcomes after nutrition deprivation in these populations. This book includes contributions from many disciplines and represents the most comprehensive summary to date of long-term health and economic outcomes related to specific famines. The book is intended for those who are interested in the early origins of health and disease from a biological perspective, and those who want to know more about the long-term social, epidemiological and demographic consequences of specific famines in modern history.