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Previous Volume 353:1848-1850 October 27, 2005 Number 17 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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At first glance, it may seem implausible that your mother's exposure to stress or toxins while she was pregnant with you, how she fed you when you were an infant, or how fast you grew during childhood can determine your risk for chronic disease as an adult. Mounting evidence, however, indicates that events occurring in the earliest stages of human development — even before birth — may influence the occurrence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma, cancers, osteoporosis, and neuropsychiatric disorders.

More than 40 years ago, Widdowson and McCance¹ discovered that rat pups that were undernourished during the three weeks of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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From the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health — all in Boston.

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