Nutrition and Development

This Task Force report reviews the evidence that the seeds of
many adult diseases are sown in utero and in infancy. The report,
written by experts in the field, summarises current knowledge in
this area. It illustrates how early life nutrition can bring about
changes in organ development and function, thus programming risk of
disease in adult life. It also considers what might be done in
early life to reduce the burden of future ill health.

Nutrition and Development: Short- and Long-Term Consequences
for Health includes chapters on the history of this topic area,
normal growth and development, and current recommendations and
practice in relation to nutrition and diet in early life. Chapters
exploring the possible mechanisms and pathways of critical windows
for development cover the effects of diet and nutrition in early
life on organ and skeletal development, the role of sex hormones in
programming disease susceptibility, the establishment of
gastrointestinal microbiota, and the impact of early life nutrition
on cognitive and neurological development.

This new report:

* describes how development occurs and explores how
changes in the fetal and postnatal environment, such as over- or
under-nutrition, can result in permanent alterations in
function;

* explains how diet and nutrition in early life can
affect risk of adult disease, with specific chapters on allergic
disease and asthma, bone health, cancer, cardiovascular disease,
cognitive function, diabetes and obesity;

* includes a summary of the key points, as well as
recommendations in each chapter to help fill the gaps in our
knowledge;

* provides an overview of the main messages in a
practical question and answer format suitable for lay readers.

Nutrition and Development is an important information
resource for those involved in research and teaching in the health
sciences sector and is also of value to those involved in making
decisions about health policy. It will be of interest to a broad
range of health professionals, the food industry and those who
write and broadcast about the effects of food on health.