title: The 'gold standard' for optimal fetal growth and development.
abstract: It is now becoming accepted that birth size per se is too crude an outcome measure to be used for the assessment of optimal intrauterine growth and development, and that a new vision of optimal fetal development is required for the 21st century. This will need to take account of both short- and long-term outcomes, to recognize that maternal body composition and diet can have long-term effects without necessarily affecting size at birth, and to take account of important interactions between the pre- and postnatal environments. At present, our understanding is limited and new definitions should only be considered as working hypotheses. Nonetheless, it is possible to begin to set out a framework for defining optimal fetal growth and development. This acknowledges the importance of developmental adaptations to alterations in the nutrient and hormonal milieu in utero and could have a major impact on human health in the century to come.
authors.affiliation: MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit (University of Southampton), Southampton General Hospital, UK. kmg@mrc.soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Godfrey
mesh_terms: D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000503:physiopathology; D005333:Fetus / Q000502:physiology*; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000502:physiology; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
chemical_list: D006133:Growth Substances; D013006:Growth Hormone