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Developmental Origins of Disease: Emerging Prenatal Risk Factors and Future Disease Risk

  • Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology (R Platt, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Many of the diseases and dysfunctions described in the paradigm of the developmental origins of health and disease have been studied in relation to prenatal nutrition or environmental toxicant exposures. Here, we selectively review the current research on four exposures—two nutritional and two environmental—that have recently emerged as prenatal risk factors for long-term health outcomes.

Recent Findings

Recent studies have provided strong evidence that prenatal exposure to (1) excessive intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, (2) unhealthy dietary patterns, (3) perfluoroalkyl substances, and (4) fine particulate matter may increase risk of adverse health outcomes, such as obesity, cardiometabolic dysfunction, and allergy/asthma.

Summary

Emerging prenatal nutritional factors and environmental toxicants influence offspring long-term health. More work is needed to identify the role of paternal exposures and maternal exposures during the preconception period and to further elucidate causality through intervention studies. The ubiquity of these emerging nutritional and environmental exposures makes this area of inquiry of considerable public health importance.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Funding

Izzuddin M Aris is supported by the National University of Singapore Overseas Postdoctoral Fellowship (NUS OPF/2017). Abby Fleisch is supported by the National Institutes of Health (K23 ES024803). Emily Oken is supported by the National Institutes of Health (UG3OD023286, P30 DK092924, R01AI102960, R01 HD034568).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, 401 Park Drive, Suite 401E, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Izzuddin M. Aris & Emily Oken

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Izzuddin M. Aris

  3. Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore, Singapore

    Izzuddin M. Aris

  4. Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME, USA

    Abby F. Fleisch

  5. Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Portland, ME, USA

    Abby F. Fleisch

  6. Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Emily Oken

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  1. Izzuddin M. Aris
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  2. Abby F. Fleisch
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  3. Emily Oken
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Correspondence to Emily Oken.

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Izzuddin M Aris and Abby F. Fleisch declare no conflicts of interest; Emily Oken reports grants from US National Institutes of Health, during the conduct of the study.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology

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Aris, I.M., Fleisch, A.F. & Oken, E. Developmental Origins of Disease: Emerging Prenatal Risk Factors and Future Disease Risk. Curr Epidemiol Rep 5, 293–302 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40471-018-0161-0

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