Review
Implications of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease concept for policy-making

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coemr.2020.08.001Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) is pivotal to preventing noncommunicable diseases and reducing risk transmission to the next generation.

  • Through maternal, child and adolescent health, the DOHaD supports the SDGs in all countries.

  • DOHaD messages have not been translated to stakeholders and policy-makers effectively.

  • Healthcare professionals may be aware of the DOHaD but not how to include it in practice.

  • Public engagement with the DOHaD should include social and environmental determinants of health.

Abstract

With the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) globally and recognition that NCD risk can be transmitted across generations, there is an increasing reason for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease concept to inform international policies and guidelines. However, the concept has not yet been widely adopted in national policies and health care settings. Appropriate dissemination of evidence and possible solutions to the challenge of NCDs is needed to build awareness among stakeholders and policy-makers. In this article, we consider the key messages from the field of developmental origins of health and disease and how they are communicated to stakeholders and policy-makers, emphasising the need for population-level interventions to be communicated in a socially just and nonstigmatising manner.

Keywords

Developmental origins
Policy
Noncommunicable diseases
Preconception
Policy-making
Social justice

Abbreviations

DOHaD
Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
NCDs
noncommunicable diseases
LMICs
low- and middle-income countries
BMI
body mass index

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