Fetal origins hypothesis

rdf:langString Fetal origins hypothesis

rdf:langString The fetal origins hypothesis (differentiated from the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis, which emphasizes environmental conditions both before and immediately after birth) proposes that the period of gestation has significant impacts on the developmental health and wellbeing outcomes for an individual ranging from infancy to adulthood. The effects of fetal origin are marked by three characteristics: latency, wherein effects may not be apparent until much later in life; persistency, whereby conditions resulting from a fetal effect continue to exist for a given individual; and genetic programming, which describes the 'switching on' of a specific gene due to prenatal environment. Research in the areas of economics, epidemiology, and epigenetics offer support for the hypothesis.