Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD): The importance of life-course and transgenerational approaches

With well-established evidence that early life conditions have a profound influence on lifespan and health-span, new interventional birth cohorts are examining ways to optimise health potential of individ-uals and communities. These are aimed at going beyond preventing disease, to the conditions that facil-itate flourishing from an early age. Covering diverse domains, local community projects, such as The ORIGINS Project, are taking a broader approach to the protective and buffering factors that enhance resi-lience and reduce allostatic load, such as building nature relatedness, interpersonal relationships, mind-fulness, and positive emotions. Such cohorts aim to address how 'upstream' approaches will have flow on effects to the 'historical' risk targets (such as poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and stress) by influencing these core behaviours through better relationships with self, community, and the environment. In addi-tion to scientific pursuit, interventional cohorts can contribute to solutions in every community - nour-ishing individuals and communities towards positive change. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Interventional birth cohorts are focusing on optimizing health potential of individuals and communities, beyond disease prevention, by examining factors such as nature relatedness, interpersonal relationships, mindfulness, and positive emotions. They aim to influence core behaviors through better relationships with self, community, and the environment, with the goal of achieving positive change in every community.