The First Thousand Days

Pelotas, Brazil                                                        Fabrício Marcon, via flickr

Speaking of Brazil (and we were, weren't we, at some point? I think it had to do with soccer [and that's a funny little connection, as the town in this post is called Pelotas]), there's a fascinating long-term study going on there, led by Dr. Cesar Victoria, in which all the children born in Pelotas in 1982 (and now, 1993 and 2004 as well) have been followed for the last 30-something years. Among the findings to come out of this study is the discovery that, nutritionally, it is the first 1,000 days of life (270 days in utero and the two years after birth) that are the most important in dictating a person's physical and mental health for the rest of his/her existence. After that, any attempt to "catch up" can lead to obesity and its concomitant complications: http://blog.wellcome.ac.uk/2012/10/19/cesar-victora-30-years-of-brazil-cohort-studies/