Your child's nutrition - the importance of their first 1,000 days

WHEN Neven Maguire’s twins, Connor and Lucia, celebrated their second birthday in February, they had just emerged out of the most important nutritional window of their lives.

The right nutrition during the first 1,000 days — 270 days of pregnancy and first two years of a child’s life — has a profound impact on a child’s ability to grow and develop normally.

British epidemiologist David Baker is a leading proponent of the ‘foetal origins’ of disease theory — that lifetime health is a product of the first 1,000 days. His research found a baby’s time in the womb can permanently affect everything from chances of developing diabetes or suffering heart attack in old age, to child’s future weight and life expectancy — food scarcity or poor pre-natal nourishment can weaken vital organs like the heart and odds of developing diabetes rise. He also found lower birth-weight babies more susceptible to heart attack in later life.