Evolution Series 

We often think of children as blank slates—that their futures are yet to be written—but several decades of public health research have shown that conditions during pregnancy and early childhood are some of the most important factors influencing lifetime health, and these years are a crucial window of opportunity to improve public health. Although a child’s choices will play a role in their future, the past can have reverberating impacts. 

The homes and neighborhoods parents lived in when their baby was born, the policies and practices that shaped the conditions of those neighborhoods, and the opportunities and experiences that influenced their health before and during pregnancy all play a role in their baby’s health at birth.