The Barker “Early Origins Hypothesis”, also known as the “Foetal Origins Hypothesis” or the “Thrifty Phenotype Hypothesis”, is founded on the concept that foetal growth restriction is an important cause of some of the most common and disabling diseases of adult life. The mechanisms involved have not been fully elucidated yet but the hypothesis holds that in critical periods of nutritional deprivation the foetus adopts strategies to survive by different “strategies”, changing the nutrient to get energy, or altering the production of hormones (as insulin) or redistributing blood flow to protect key organs including brain. Accordingly, these adaptations, operated during early development, tend to have permanent effects on the body’s structure and metabolism - a  phenomenon referred to as “foetal programming”. Within this context, a major role is also attributed to maternal nutrition. If the mother is poorly nourished (and any period in her life might be relevant, not just nutrition during pregnancy) the intrauterine environment may become adverse starting from the first ages of placenta and foetal implantation.

Prof Barker has been the first to explore and expand the concept of the influence of intrauterine growth through the whole life span. He is the real father of the concept. All the recent studies in the area of programming and functional nutrition refer to the  Barker’s Hypothesis”. Most nutritional intervention studies in both the paediatric and the obstetric areas are presently based on his hypothesis. This hypothesis has led to new developments in nutrition, in clinical practice and in public health. In particular, an improvement of health conditions of the new generations is expected from improved maternal nutrition and the prevention of all the conditions leading to intrauterine growth restriction.

Conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancer and respiratory diseases now account for almost 60% of the 57 million deaths annually and 46% of the global burden of disease. Following Prof. Barker’s studies, and the scientific evidence accumulating on his scientific inputs, public health policies should now take into account:
• the avoidance of excessive thinness or overweight in mothers before conception;
• the possibility of access to a balanced diet for all girls and young women through childhood, adolescence, early adult life and pregnancy;
• the protection of infant growth;
• the avoidance of overweight particularly among children who had small body size at birth;

At present, Prof. Barker continues his research activities on the early origins of chronic disease at the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Division Research Centre of Southampton University, UK, and the Heart Research Centre Oregon Health and Science University, USA. He is still very active in his research area, with collaborative projects in both developed and developing countries, and promotes the “Foetal Origins Hypothesis” at an international level, while stimulating the creation of other research groups throughout the world.
 
We are very happy to recognise the pioneering work of Professor David JP Barker through the 2005 Danone International Prize for Nutrition. Personally, as a paediatrician it gives me great pleasure to give official recognition to a researcher who has characterized with his concepts the area of our work, in the last 20 years. With this Prize, we today celebrate the “Foetal Origins Hypothesis”, as the idea that has created novel approaches in the area of nutrition, giving us the opportunity to better understand and, more importantly, more effectively prevent chronic-degenerative disorders.