[How the life course perspective transforms epidemiology].

The life course epidemiology is an interdisciplinary approach to health resulting from the convergence of centres of interest in social epidemiology, natural sciences (biology, genetics) and social sciences (psychology, sociology, history). It examines the origin of chronic diseases in the past of individuals, considering the duration and timing of exposure to different risk factors, throughout the life of the individual, from gestation to an advanced age. The life course epidemiology is interested as much in bio-psycho-social determinants as in environmental and societal influences on the trajectories of health and various diseases, either somatic or psychic.