Professor David J.P. Barker, Director of MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton
In a series of epidemiological studies, Professor Barker has shown that people who had low birth weight or who were thin of stunted at birth, have a high rates of coronary disease and the related disorders of strokes, diabetes and hypertension in adult life. This has led to the hypothesis that some coronary heart disease originates through fetal adaptation to malnutrition in uteri.
Government policies to improve the health of poorer people in Britain increasingly recognize the importance of optimizing the nutrition of girls and young women in order to prevent chronic disease in the next generation. UNICEF is currently examining method of protecting the health and nutrition of young women in India as means of controlling the rising epidemic of coronary heart disease and diabetes.