Non-communicable diseases: Opportunities to promote future health during the first 1000 day of life

Authors

  • Prof. Andrew John Macnab Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study and University of British Columbia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35898/ghmj-731003

Keywords:

Developmental origins of health and disease, Exclusive breast feeding, First 1000 days of life, Obesity, Stunting

Abstract

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) framework now underlies the evolution and epigenetics of many non-communicable diseases that develop in adult life. Type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, heart disease and stroke in particular have links back to events during the first 1000 days of life, and as the world is witnessing an epidemic of these conditions, identifying measures able to contribute to reducing the potential for these NCDs to develop in our aging populations becomes all the more important. Parental health at conception and good maternal health and nutrition throughout pregnancy are known to be integral to normal infant development and health in later life, but more recently the central importance of infant nutrition that achieves healthy weight gain has become recognized. In this context, achieving growth patterns for infants that avoid either the onset of obesity or development of stunting during the first 1000 days of life appears to be an achievable goal with significant potential for the avoidance of many NCDs in later life. Hence the relevance of health promotion initiatives to share this knowledge among health care providers and educate parents on the benefits of optimal infant nutrition.

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Author Biography

  • Prof. Andrew John Macnab, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study and University of British Columbia

    * Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Canada.

    * The Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Center at Stellenbosch University South Africa.

    * Editor in Chief, Global Health Management Journal, Yayasan Aliansi Cendekiawan Indonesia Thailand, Indonesian Scholars' Alliance (INSCHOOL).

References

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Macnab, A.J. (2019). The Stellenbosch consensus statement on Health Promoting Schools. Global Health Promotion. 20(1), 78-81. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757975912464252.

Macnab, A.J., & Mukisa, R. (2018). Priorities for African youth to engage in the DOHaD agenda. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. 9(1), 15-19. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2040174417000423.

World Health Organization. (2023). Noncommunicable diseases https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases.

Tohi, M., Bay, J. L., Tu’akoi, S., & Vickers, M. H. (2022). The developmental origins of health and disease: adolescence as a critical lifecourse period to break the transgenerational cycle of NCDs—a narrative review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10), 6024. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19106024.

Yan, J., Liu, L., Zhu, Y., Huang, G., & Wang, P. P. (2014). The association between breastfeeding and childhood obesity: a meta-analysis. BMC public health, 14, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1267.

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Published

2024-09-25

How to Cite

Macnab, A. J. (2024). Non-communicable diseases: Opportunities to promote future health during the first 1000 day of life. GHMJ (Global Health Management Journal), 7(3), 109–111. https://doi.org/10.35898/ghmj-731003

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