Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: A Challenge for Nurses.

Prevention of disease is a cornerstone of nursing care. Through our endeavors in research, teaching, and clinical care, nurses consistently seek to change the trajectory of disease development. The theoretical framework known as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) offers a new lens that shifts the current disease prevention paradigm upstream, encouraging intensified care of pregnant girls/women, neonates, and infants. This new focus parallels other emerging ecobiodevelopmental, life-course theories, which identify the long-term impact of early environments and stressors on the later risk of chronic adult diseases. Nurses have the potential to influence the health of multiple generations by incorporating DOHaD perspectives and interventions into their research and patient care.