Seminar 1 - Prenatal Development (September 21 2009)

I must admit that I was very taken aback by the readings and class discussions of this week’s seminar. Even with my background in biology, I was very surprised to learn about the prenatal effects that both birth weight and the mother’s diet can have on the adult diseases that the child could contract. I see that it is significantly more important to reach out to child care centres and begin teaching children the importance of good nutrition. It shocks me that we are taught so many important things in school yet there is so little emphasis placed on how to eat properly. I guess from an evolutionary standpoint, these findings seem to make sense. Only the mothers that ate the best and healthiest foods, and the babies that were born with the highest birth weight would best survive and prosper. In recalling the ‘ideal diet’ that was discussed in the podcast and by Dr. Barker, I could not help but think about a recent book that I read about the ‘Paleo’ or ‘Prehistoric’ diet. This diet is based on the food sources that were available to our ancestors many millennia ago. It seems that current research trends are slowly getting closer to corroborate the findings of the Paleo diet researchers (i.e. Loren Cordain and Elizabeth Somer).
I was also very surprised to hear learn about the effects of bad childcare institutions and the link on decrease linear growth. It seems that today we are discovering more and more correlations between things that we couldn’t even imagine. I foresee serious detriment to society and a tremendous increase in the number of adult diseases unless we can revolutionize our eating and exercise habits. With obesity and Type II diabetes on an exponential increase, I feel that the time is now to attempt to tackle these issues in society. The health care system seems to be highly reactive and focuses very little on being proactive. I think that this most seriously has to change.
These articles and the podcast have helped expose how deep seeded the issues of today’s society really are. It seems very clear that our bodies know what is best; they are very smart in knowing what is good and bad. If you treat them badly, they will treat you badly. In the coming decades, I see it to be my duty to help educate our children and lead my life as an example of good health. I only hope that it is not already too late.