Nutrition and Development: Short- and Long-Term Consequences for Health Report of the British Nutrition Foundation Task Force

This Task Force report reviews the evidence that the seeds of many adult diseases are sown in utero and in infancy. It describes the key issues relating to the critical windows of early life development, with particular focus on the development of the gut and nervous system, cognitive function, and the perinatal effects of sex hormones in the programming of disease in later life.The report, written by experts in the field, illustrates how changes in the fetal and postnatal environment, such as over- or under-nutrition, can result in permanent alterations in organ development and function and affect risk of adult disease, with specific chapters on allergic disease and asthma, bone health, cancer, cardiovascular disease, cognitive function, diabetes and obesity. It also considers what might be done in early life to reduce the burden of future ill health. The report summarises current knowledge in this area, and provides important recommendations to help identify long-term strategies for early life nutrition.The Task Force was launched earlier this year with a one-day conference which included video interviews with the speakers(see http://www.nutrition.org.uk/bnfevents/pastevents/task-force-report-launch). © All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.