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Cited by 1,742Birth, Development, and HealthAnimal Behavior and ReproductionEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Developmental plasticity and human health

Open access
Bateson, Patrick, Barker, David, Clutton-Brock, Timothy, Deb, Debal, D'Udine, Bruno, Foley, Robert A., Gluckman, Peter, Godfrey, Keith, Kirkwood, Tom, Lahr, Marta Mirazón, McNamara, John, Metcalfe, Neil B., Monaghan, Patricia, Spencer, Hamish G., Sultan, Sonia E.·2004·Nature
DOI 10.1038/nature02725
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Abstract

Many plants and animals are capable of developing in a variety of ways, forming characteristics that are well adapted to the environments in which they are likely to live. In adverse circumstances, for example, small size and slow metabolism can facilitate survival, whereas larger size and more rapid metabolism have advantages for reproductive success when resources are more abundant. Often these characteristics are induced in early life or are even set by cues to which their parents or grandparents were exposed. Individuals developmentally adapted to one environment may, however, be at risk when exposed to another when they are older. The biological evidence may be relevant to the understanding of human development and susceptibility to disease. As the nutritional state of many human mothers has improved around the world, the characteristics of their offspring--such as body size and metabolism--have also changed. Responsiveness to their mothers' condition before birth may generally prepare individuals so that they are best suited to the environment forecast by cues available in early life. Paradoxically, however, rapid improvements in nutrition and other environmental conditions may have damaging effects on the health of those people whose parents and grandparents lived in impoverished conditions. A fuller understanding of patterns of human plasticity in response to early nutrition and other environmental factors will have implications for the administration of public health.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Bateson, P. & Martin, P. Design for a Life: How Behaviour Develops (Cape, London, 1999)
  2. Barker, D. J. P. Mothers, Babies and Health in Later Life (Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, 1998)

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Metadata

Authors
Bateson, P., Barker, D., Clutton-Brock, T., Deb, D., D'Udine, B., Foley, R. A., Gluckman, P., Godfrey, K., Kirkwood, T., Lahr, M. M., McNamara, J., Metcalfe, N. B., Monaghan, P., Spencer, H. G., & Sultan, S. E.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • Southampton General Hospital (GB)
  • Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (IN)
  • University of Auckland (NZ)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
  • University of Glasgow (GB)
  • University of Otago (NZ)
  • Wesleyan University (US)
Corresponding author
Bateson, Patrick
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2004-07
Volume
430
Issue
6998
Pages
419-421
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/nature02725
OpenAlex
W2049590417
Cited by
1,742
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 28 · 2025: 47 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 85 · 2021: 72 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 66 · 2018: 84 · 2017: 81 · 2016: 99 · 2015: 87 · 2014: 106 · 2013: 102 · 2012: 129
FWCI
70.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Wesleyan University Digital Collections (Wesleyan University) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (submittedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
  • Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
Funders
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BEP17 042)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords
developmental plasticity, human health, early life environment, maternal nutrition, fetal programming, body size, metabolism, disease susceptibility, environmental mismatch, public health policy, epigenetic inheritance
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Body Constitution, Cues, Disease Susceptibility, Energy Metabolism, Female, Embryonic and Fetal Development, Health, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Male, Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Pregnancy, Public Health

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