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Reference.org
Fetal programming
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<p>Fetal programming, also known as prenatal programming, is the theory that environmental cues experienced during fetal development play a seminal role in determining health trajectories across the lifespan. </p><p>Three main forms of programming that occur due to changes in the maternal environment are: </p> <ul><li>Changes in development that lead to greater disease risk;</li> <li>Genetic changes that alter disease risk;</li> <li><a href="/facts/Epigenetics/UfAAERcn">Epigenetic</a> changes which alter disease risk of not only the child but also that of the next generation - i.e., after a famine, grandchildren of women who were pregnant during the famine, are born smaller than the normal size, despite nutritional deficiencies having been fulfilled.</li></ul> <p>These changes in the maternal environmental can be due to nutritional alteration, hormonal fluctuations or exposure to toxins. </p>