The First One Thousand Days

While initiatives for raising awareness on the importance of the first one thousand days of life of the individual (conception to 2 years) have been in place for a few years now, these initiatives have been primarily focused on nutrition. Nutrition however, is only part of the story.

We now know that there is a large connection in the development of the human being, in these first one thousand days, that impact, in its totality, the full physical, psychological, and social expression of the individual. The compounded factors contributing to the eventual expression, or not, for optimal health and wellbeing are part of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.

DOHAD addresses how the environment induces changes in development that have long-term impact on later health and disease risk. Environmental exposures such as parental lifestyle and diet, smoking, obesity and exposure to endocrine disruptor chemicals/ toxin; psychological development; social setting; as well as systems context have been shown to modulate disease risk. The effects of such exposures are often graded and subtle – they do not simply disrupt development or induce disease themselves – but can affect how rapidly disease develops in an individual at a later stage in life.

This bio-psycho-socio-systems perspective helps in understanding the potential for optimal health and wellbeing, or indicates possible challenges in the future. The knowledge of these key determinants comprises a complex blueprint which is the beginning of life.

At Lorenzini we understand the vital importance to work across sectors to design pathways to preempt the full potential of the individual and to ensure that any deviations from realizing the full potential are prevented.