Growth and development
cynthia mary
Chief Clinical Officer, Director, project manager, community health officer
Growth and Development Trajectories
Nutrition plays a vital role in how we grow and develop. Throughout our lives, we follow paths, or trajectories, that can be positive, resulting in health and high quality of life, or negative, increasing risk of poor health and poor quality of life.
In general, health trajectories across a person’s life are affected by the following two important mechanisms
Early Programming
Exposures and experiences during sensitive developmental periods early in life may permanently alter the functions of organs or systems.
Cumulative Pathways
“Wear and tear,” or continual exposure to a particular set of risk factors, can add up over time to negatively affect health and function. Positive exposures (protective factors) also accumulate over time. Differences in exposures over time play a major role in health disparities.
Together, early programming and cumulative pathways shape the growth and development of a person from conception throughout life.