A conceptual framework for the developmental origins of health and disease

In the last decades, the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) have emerged as a vigorous field combining experimental, clinical and public health research. Its goal is to understand how events in early life shape later morbidity risk, especially of non-communicable chronic disease. As these diseases become the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, research arising from DoHaD is likely to gain significance to public health and economic development. In this article, we provide a succinct historical review of the resesarch into the relationship between development and later disease, consider the evolutionary and developmental significance and discuss the underlying mechanisms of the DOHaD phenomenon.