Abstract
Chronic mild caloric restriction delays the aging process and increases lifespan. But poor nutrition during critical periods of early human development has lasting negative consequences for growth, development and health. Studies of men and women born around the time of the Dutch famine of 1944–1945 have shown that undernutrition during critical periods of development increase the risk of chronic degenerative diseases in later life and may accelerate the aging process. The Dutch famine was an acute period of undernutrition that was clearly circumscribed in time and place, it had an abrupt beginning and end and struck a population that was previously and subsequently well nourished. Also, the administration was well organised and records were kept allowing researchers to investigate the consequences of starvation in the decades that followed. All these characteristics make the Dutch famine uniquely suited for such studies, and allow researchers to take a quasi-experimental design to address a question that would otherwise be impossible to answer in a human setting. The effects of undernutrition depended on its timing during gestation, and the organs and tissues undergoing critical periods of development at that time. Early gestation appeared to be the most vulnerable period. The effects of famine exposure were widespread and affected the structure and function of many organs and tissues, resulted in altered behaviour, accelerated aging and increased risks of chronic degenerative diseases, which in turn led to reduced participation in the labour market and increased mortality. Studies in other settings also show that those faced with undernutrition during the critical earliest stages of development have increased rates of chronic generative diseases in adult life. This suggests that these findings reflect biologically fundamental processes that describe human plasticity. Proper nutrition from the earliest stages of life will allow future generations to reach their full potential and lead healthier and more productive lives, ultimately leading to a healthier future.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alastalo H et al (2009) Cardiovascular health of Finnish war evacuees 60 yrs later. Ann Med 41(1) 66–72
Bleker LS, de Rooij SR, Painter RC, van der Velde N, Roseboom TJ (2016) Prenatal undernutrition and physical function and frailty at the age of 68 years: the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 71(10):1306–1314
Brand SR, Engel SM, Canfield RL, Yehuda R (2006) The effect of maternal PTSD following in utero trauma exposure on behavior and temperament in the 9-month-old infant. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1071:454
Chen Y, Zhou L-A (2007) The long-term health and economic consequences of the 1959–1961 famine in China. J Health Econ 26(4):659–681
de Boo HA, Harding JE (2006) The developmental origins of adult disease (Barker) hypothesis. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 46(1):4–14
de Rooij SR, Painter RC, Roseboom TJ et al (2006) Glucose tolerance at age 58 and the decline of glucose tolerance in comparison with age 50 in people prenatally exposed to the Dutch famine. Diabetologia 49(4):637–643
de Rooij SR, Wouters H, Yonker JE, Painter RC, Roseboom TJ (2010) Prenatal undernutrition and cognitive function in late adulthood. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:16881–16886
de Rooij SR, Painter RC, Phillips DI, Räikkönen K, Schene AH, Roseboom TJ (2011) Self-reported depression and anxiety after prenatal famine exposure: mediation by cardio-metabolic pathology? J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2(3):136–143
Ekamper P, van Poppel F, Stein AD, Lumey LH (2014) Independent and additive association of prenatal famine exposure and intermediary life conditions with adult mortality between age 18–63 years. Soc Sci Med 119:232–239
Fine S, Iqbal MS, Lowe R, Ogunkolade BW, Pervon S, Mathews C, Smart M, Alam DS, Hitman GA (2016) Is famine exposure during developmental life in rural Bangladesh associated with a metabolic and epigenetic signature in young adulthood? A historical cohort study. BMJ Open 6e011768
Fontana L, Partridge L (2010) Longo VD Extending healthy life span—from yeast to humans. Science 328:321–326
Franke K, Gaser C, Roseboom TJ, Schwab M, de Rooij SR (2018) Premature brain aging in humans exposed to maternal nutrient restriction during early gestation. Neuroimage 173:460–471
Franzek EJ, Spranger N, Janssens ACJW, van Duijn CM, van de Wetering BJM (2008) Prenatal exposure to the 1944–45 Dutch ‘hunger winter’ and addiction later in life. Addiction 103:433–438
Gluckman PD, Hanson MA, Cooper C, Thornburg KL (2008) Effect of in utero and early life conditions on adult health and disease. NEJM 359(1):61–73
Hales CN, Barker DJ (1992) Type 2 diabetes mellitus: the thrifty phenotype hypothesis. Diabetologia 35:595–601
Heijmans BT, Tobi EW, Stein AD et al (2008) Persistent epigenetic differences associate with prenatal exposure to famine in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:17046–17049
Hoek HW, Susser EZ, Buck K, Lumey LH, Lin SP, Gorman JM (1996) Schizoid personality disorder after prenatal exposure to famine. Am J Psychiatry 153:1637–1639
Hulshoff Pol HE, Hoek HW, Susser E, Brown AS, Dingemans A, Schnack HG (2000) Prenatal exposure to famine and brain morphology in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatr 157:1170–1172
Hult M, Tornhammar P, Ueda P et al (2010) Hypertension, diabetes and overweight: looming legacies of the Biafran Famine. PLOS ONE 5(10):e13582
Li J, Liu S, Li S, Feng R, Na L, Chu X, Wu X, Niu Y, Sun Z, Han T, Deng H, Meng X, Xu H, Zhang Z, Qu Q, Zhang Q, Li Y, Sun C (2017) Prenatal exposure to famine and the development of hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes in adulthood across consecutive generations: a population-based cohort study of families in Suihua, China. Am J Clin Nutr 105(1):221–227
Lopuhaä CE, Roseboom TJ, Osmond C et al (2000) Atopy, lung function and obstructive airways disease after prenatal exposure to famine. Thorax 55:555–561
Lumey LH, Stein AD, Kahn HS (2009a) Food restriction during gestation and impaired fasting glucose or glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus in adulthood: evidence from the Dutch Hunger Winter Families Study. J Dev Orig Health Dis 1:S164
Lumey LH, Stein AD, Kahn HS, Romijn JA (2009b) Lipid profiles in middle-aged men and women after famine exposure during gestation: the Dutch Hunger Winter Families Study. Am J Clin Nutr 89:1737–1743
Lumey LH, Khalangot MD, Vaiserman AM (2015) Association between type 2 diabetes and prenatal exposure to the Ukraine famine of 1932–33: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 3(10):787–794
Mazumder B, Almond D, Park K, Crimmins EM, Finch CE (2010) Lingering prenatal effects of the 1918 influenza pandemic on cardiovascular disease. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 1(1):26–34
Meng R, Lv J, Yu C, Guo Y, Bian Z, Yang L, Chen Y, Zhang H, Chen X, Chen J, Chen Z, Qi L, Li L (2018) China Kadoorie Biobank Collaborative Group Chinese famine Prenatal famine exposure, adulthood obesity patterns and risk of type 2 diabetes. Int J Epidemiol 47(2):399–408
Neelsen S, Stratmann T (2011) Effects of prenatal and early life malnutrition: evidence from the Greek famine. J Health Econ 30(3):479–488
Neugebauer R, Hoek HW, Susser E (1999) Prenatal exposure to wartime famine and development of antisocial personality disorder in early adulthood. J Am Med Assoc 282:455–462
Painter RC, Roseboom TJ, van Montfrans GA, Bossuyt PMM, Krediet RT, Osmond C, Barker DJ, Bleker OP (2005) Microalbuminurea in adults after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine. J Am Soc Nephrol 16(1):189–194
Painter RC, De Rooij S, Bossuyt P, Osmond C, Barker D, Bleker O, Roseboom TJ (2006a) A possible link between prenatal exposure to famine and breast cancer: a preliminary study. Am J Hum Biol 18(6):853–856
Painter RC, de Rooij SR, Bossuyt PM et al (2006b) Blood pressure response to psychological stressors in adults after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine. J Hypertens 24:1771–1778
Painter RC, de Rooij SR, Roseboom TJ et al (2006c) Early onset of coronary heart disease after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine. Am J Clin Nutr 84:322–327
Ravelli GP, Stein ZA, Susser MW (1976) Obesity in young men after famine exposure in utero and early infancy. N Engl J Med 295(7):349–353
Ravelli ACJ, van der Meulen JHP, Michels RPJ et al (1998) Glucose tolerance in adults after in utero exposure to the Dutch famine. Lancet 351:173–177
Ravelli AC, van der Meulen JHP, Osmond C, Barker DJP, Bleker OP (1999) Obesity at the age of 50 years in men and women exposed to famine prenatally. AJCN 70:811–816
Rooij SR, Caan MW, Swaab DF, Nederveen AJ, Majoie CB, Schwab M, Painter RC, Roseboom TJ (2016a) Prenatal famine exposure has sex-specific effects on brain size. Brain 139(Pt 8):2136–2142
Rooij SR, Caan MW, Swaab DF, Nederveen AJ, Majoie CB, Schwab M, Painter RC, Roseboom TJ (2016b) Prenatal famine exposure has sex-specific effects on brain size. Brain 139(Pt 8):2136–2142
Roseboom TJ, van der Meulen JHP, Osmond C et al (2000a) Coronary heart disease after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine 1944–45. Heart 84(6):595–598
Roseboom TJ, van der Meulen JHP, Osmond C, Barker DJP, Ravelli ACJ, Bleker OP (2000b) Plasma lipid profile in adults after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine. Am J Clin Nutr 72:1101–1106
Roseboom TJ, van der Meulen JHP, Ravelli ACJ, Osmond C, Barker DJP, Bleker OP (2000c) Plasma fibrinogen and factor VII concentrations in adults after prenatal exposure to famine. Br J Haematol 111:112–117
Scholte RS, van den Berg GJ, Lindeboom M (2015) Long-run effects of gestation during the Dutch Hunger Winter Famine on labor market and hospitalisation outcomes. J Health Econ 39:17–30
Smith C (1947) The effects of wartime starvation in Holland on pregnancy and its product. Am J Obstet Gynaecol 53:599–608
Stanner SA, Bulmer K, Andrès C, Lantseva OE, Borodina V, Poteen VV, Yudkin JS (1997) Does malnutrition in utero determine diabetes and coronary heart disease in adulthood? Results from the Leningrad siege study, a cross sectional study. BMJ 22;315(7119):1342–1348
Stearns SC (1989) The evolutionary significance of phenotypic plasticity. Bioscience 39:436–445
Stein AD, Kahn HS, Rundle A, Zybert PA, van der Pal-de Bruin K, Lumey LH (2007) Anthropometric measures in middle age after exposure to famine during gestation: evidence from the Dutch famine. Am J Clin Nutr 85:869–876
Stein AD, Pierik FH, Verrips GH, Susser ES, Lumey LH (2009) Maternal exposure to the Dutch famine before conception and during pregnancy: quality of life and depressive symptoms in adult offspring. Epidemiology 20(6):909–915
Thurner S, Klimek P, Szell, Duftschmid G, Endel G, Kautzky-Willer A, Kasper DC (2013) Quantification of excess risk for diabetes for those born in times of hunger, in an entire population of a nations, across a country. PNAS 110:4703–4707
Tobi EW, Lumey LH, Talens RP et al (2009) DNA methylation differences after exposure to prenatal famine are common and timing- and sex-specific. Hum Mol Genet 18:4046–4053
Tobi EW, van den Heuvel J, Zwaan BJ, Lumey LH, Heijmans BT, Uller T (2018) Selective survival of embryos can explain DNA methylation signatures of adverse prenatal environments. Cell Rep. 25(10):2660–2667.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2018.11.023
Van Abeelen AF, Veenendaal MV, Painter RC, de Rooij SR, Dijkgraaf MG, Bossuyt PM, Elias SG, Grobbee DE, Uiterwaal CS, Roseboom TJ (2012) Survival effects of prenatal famine exposure. Am J Clin Nutr 95(1):179–183
Waterland RA, Kellermayer R, Laritsky E et al (2010) Season of conception in rural Gambia affects DNA methylation at putative human metastabile epialleles. Plos Genetics 6e1001252
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Roseboom, T.J. (2019). Prenatal Exposure to Famine and Ageing. In: Vaiserman, A. (eds) Early Life Origins of Ageing and Longevity. Healthy Ageing and Longevity, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24958-8_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24958-8_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-24957-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24958-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)