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Abstract
Babies who are small at birth and during infancy are now known to be at an increased
risk of developing coronary heart disease, hypertension and diabetes during adult
life. This has led to the suggestion that these diseases are ‘programmed’ by an inadequate
supply of nutrients or oxygen in utero or immediately after birth. The phenomenon
of ‘programming’, whereby undernutrition in early life permanently changes body structure
and function, is well documented in animals. As yet we know little about cellular
and molecular changes which underlie it, but persisting changes in the secretion of
hormones or in the sensitivity of tissues to them may be important in determining
adult disease.