Early Life Nutrition and Lifelong Health - Derbyshire Local Medical ...

BMA Board of ScienceFigure 1: The human dietary transitionHunter-gatherer energy sourcesUSA energy sources65%Lean gameWild fowlEggsFishShellfishFruitsVegetablesNutsHoney 35%55%Cereal grainsMilk,milk productsSugar, sweetenersSeparated fatsAlcoholFruits 17%VegetablesLegumesNutsFatty meatPoultry EggsFishShellfish28%A typical hunter-gatherer diet versus a typical modern USA diet.Estimated dietary components in Palaeolithic human ancestors, based in part on hunter-gatherer diets,compared with those in contemporary United States of America (USA). Note the relatively high protein and lowcarbohydrate content of the hunter-gatherer diet.Source: Eaton SB & Cordain L (1997) Evolutionary aspects of diet: old genes, new fuels. Nutritional changessince agriculture. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics 81: 26-37. Modified after Cordain L, Eaton SB,Brand Miller J et al (2002) The paradoxical nature of hunter-gatherer diets: meat-based, yet non-atherogenic.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56: S42-52.The introduction of agriculture 10,000 years ago permanently changed the nature of our foodsupply, as plants and animals were domesticated for the first time. Further dietary change followedthe Industrial Revolution, which created opportunities to process foods such as grains and cereals;and the onset of global trading introduced new foods into the UK diet. Our dietary patterns havecontinued to evolve to the present day – as new food products have become available and we areinfluenced by dietary trends occurring in other parts of the world.Although it is argued that this rate of change in diet from Palaeolithic times has been too fast toallow the human genome to adapt, and is linked to the rising incidence of chronic diseases, 5 manyof the improvements in nutrition in the UK over the last century have had an enormous beneficialimpact on mortality and public health. Diseases such as goitre or rickets, which were historicallyassociated with social deprivation and malnutrition, are now rarely seen. Improved nutrition hastherefore played a role in the dramatic increase in life expectancy. Some recent trends, however,are a cause for concern, such as the increase in the sugar and salt content of the diet. Theserecent dietary changes have also been accompanied by reductions in physical activity, and there isconsiderable concern about the consequences of the combined effects of these changes on theincidence and patterns of obesity and associated diseases.6Early life nutrition and lifelong health