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Life Course Perspective: Evidence for the Role of Nutrition

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Abstract

The “Life Course Perspective” proposes that environmental exposures, including biological, physical, social, and behavioral factors, as well as life experiences, throughout the entire life span, influence health outcomes in current and future generations. Nutrition, from preconception to adulthood, encompasses all of these factors and has the potential to positively or negatively shape the individual or population health trajectories and their intergenerational differences. This paper applies the T2E2 model (timing, timeline, equity and environment), developed by Fine and Kotelchuck, as an overlay to examine advances in nutritional science, as well as the complex associations between life stages, nutrients, nutrigenomics, and access to healthy foods, that support the life course perspective. Examples of the application of nutrition to each of the four constructs are provided, as well as a strong recommendation for inclusion of nutrition as a key focal point for all health professionals as they address solutions to optimize health outcomes, both domestically and internationally. The science of nutrition provides strong evidence to support the concepts of the life course perspective. These findings lend urgency to the need to improve population health across the life span and over generations by ensuring ready access to micronutrient-dense foods, opportunities to balance energy intake with adequate physical activity and the need for biological, social, physical, and macro-level environments that support critical phases of human development. Recommendations for the application of the life course perspective, with a focus on the emerging knowledge of nutritional science, are offered in an effort to improve current maternal and child health programs, policies, and service delivery.

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Acknowledgments

This project was partially supported by grant # T79MC00013 from Health Resources and Services Administration’s MCHB for Leadership Education and Training in Nutrition to the University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public and its Partner institutions: University of Washington, Colorado State University, Oregon Health and Science University, and the University of New Mexico. Special thanks for thoughtful reviews and comments are extended to Amy Fine, MCH Consultant, Cheri Pies, University of California, Berkeley and Donna Lockner, University of New Mexico, emerita. Additional thanks to Jennifer Herrera, MCH nutrition trainee at the University of New Mexico, who assisted with content, to Stephanie Smith, MCH nutrition trainee at Colorado State University, and Feon Cheng, MCH nutrition trainee and Jessica Roeckel, MPH student, both at the University of California, Los Angeles, for their help in facilitating the work of this collaborative Project and assistance with the graphics. Finally, the authors would like to recognize the support and encouragement of Denise Sofka, MCHB Division of Workforce Development, as well as that of the other Nutrition in Leadership Training grantees, including University of Alabama, University of Minnesota, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Baylor University, and Indiana University, with whom we have collaborated on addressing this issue for the past 3 years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Dena R. Herman, Marion Taylor Baer & Nelida Duran

  2. The Child Development and Rehabilitation Center and the Hemophilia Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Elizabeth Adams

  3. Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Leslie Cunningham-Sabo

  4. Nutritional Sciences Program, Center for Public Health Nutrition, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Donna B. Johnson

  5. Departments of Individual, Family and Community Education and Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Elizabeth Yakes

  6. Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Dena R. Herman

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Correspondence to Dena R. Herman.

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Herman, D.R., Taylor Baer, M., Adams, E. et al. Life Course Perspective: Evidence for the Role of Nutrition. Matern Child Health J 18, 450–461 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1280-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1280-3

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