Academics and health professionals gathered recently in London to hear findings of a new Task Force report from the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), entitled Cardiovascular Disease: Diet, Nutrition and Emerging Risk Factors: 2nd Edition. HRH The Princess Royal attended in her capacity as BNF Patron.
The new Task Force report summarises emerging scientific evidence for the links between diet and lifestyle and risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and describes some of the changes in scientific thinking since the publication of the first edition in 2005.
During a launch of the report, experts involved in the Task Force – including Southampton Professor Caroline Fall – presented on the newer and more emerging risk factors including foetal development, gut microbiome, inflammation and sedentary behaviour.
Amongst its findings, the Task Force reported that accumulating research has shown a link between restricted foetal growth, resulting in lower birthweight, and cardiometabolic disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes in adulthood. Speaking at the launch on foetal and childhood origins of cardiometabolic disease, Professor Fall emphasised the effect of ‘early life exposures’ on the potential to develop CVD later in life.
“Cohort studies have shown that adult risk factors like smoking and obesity add to, or even multiply, the effects of adverse early life exposures,” said Professor Fall, Professor of International Paediatric Epidemiology within Medicine at Southampton.
She continued: “But this evidence also suggests that people who are at risk because of poor intrauterine nutrition can lower their risk of CVD by maintaining a healthy body weight and avoiding smoking in adult life, even if the early life effects aren’t fully reversible.”
