Timing

This chapter sets out experimental evidence for lasting effects of maternal and paternal exposures during critical windows of development around the time of conception, and points to the increasing evidence supporting adolescence and preconception as critical windows for the health of the next generation. This is set in the context of sections providing overviews of pregnancy and lactation, prematurity and infancy as more established critical windows during which environmental exposures can have lasting consequences for health and the risk of disease. Conceptually, these represent periods when timely interventions are considered to have the greatest potential for enhancing the development of functional capacity, thereby promoting resilience throughout the life-course.