Analyzing Policies Through a DOHaD Lens: What Can We Learn?

Social, health, and environmental policies are critical tools for providing the conditions needed for healthy populations. However, current policy analyses fall short of capturing their full potential impacts across the life course and from generation to generation. We argue that the field of Develo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2018-12, Vol.15 (12), p.2906
Main Authors: Goodman, Julia M, Boone-Heinonen, Janne, Richardson, Dawn M, Andrea, Sarah B, Messer, Lynne C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Birth weight
Breastfeeding & lactation
Cardiovascular disease
Child mortality
Diabetes
Environmental policy
Epigenetics
Family leave
Family Leave - legislation & jurisprudence
Family Leave - standards
Guidelines as Topic
Health Policy
Housing
Housing - legislation & jurisprudence
Housing - standards
Humans
Learning
Life span
Low income groups
Mental health
Neighborhoods
Nutrition
Nutrition Policy - legislation & jurisprudence
Nutritional Status
Obesity
Offspring
Poverty
Reproduction
Reproductive health
Social policy
United States
United States Dept. of Health and Human Services
Womens health
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Summary:Social, health, and environmental policies are critical tools for providing the conditions needed for healthy populations. However, current policy analyses fall short of capturing their full potential impacts across the life course and from generation to generation. We argue that the field of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), a conceptual and research framework positing that early life experiences significantly affect health trajectories across the lifespan and into future generations, provides an important lens through which to analyze social policies. To illustrate this point, we synthesized evidence related to policies from three domains-family leave, nutrition, and housing-to examine the health implications for multiple generations. We selected these policy domains because they represent increasing distance from a reproductive health focus, each with a growing evidence base to support a potential impact on pregnant women and their offspring. Each of these examples represents an opportunity to extend our understanding of policy impact using a DOHaD lens, taking into account the potential life course and intergenerational effects that have previously been overlooked.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph15122906