In Australia, there are two distinct populations, each with vastly disparate health outcomes: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and non-Aboriginal Australians. Aboriginal Australians have significantly higher rates of health and socioeconomic disadvantage, and Aboriginal babies are also more likely to be born low birth weight or growth restricted. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis advocates that a sub-optimal intrauterine environment, often manifested as diminished foetal growth, during critical periods of foetal development has the potential to alter the risk of non-communicable disease in the offspring. A better understanding of the role of the intrauterine environment and subsequent developmental programming, in response to both transgenerational and immediate stimuli, in Aboriginal Australians remains a relatively unexplored field and may provide insights into the prevailing health disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. This narrative review explores the role of DOHaD in explaining the ongoing disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal People in today’s society through a detailed discussion of the literature on the association between foetal growth, as a proxy for the quality of the intrauterine environment, and outcomes in the offspring including perinatal health, early life development and childhood education. The literature largely supports this hypothesis and this review therefore has potential implications for policy makers not only in Australia but also in other countries that have minority and Indigenous populations who suffer disproportionate disadvantage such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of early and mid-gestation nutrient restriction on maternal metabolites and foetal growth. Primiparous Angus cows were synchronized and inseminated with semen from one sire. Dietary treatments were: control to gain 1 kg/week (CON) or 0.55% maintenance energy and CP requirements (nutrient restricted; NR). A subset of dams was fed NR (n=8) or CON (n=8) from days 30 to 110 of gestation. Another group was fed CON (n=8), days 30 to 190; NR (n=7), days 30 to 110 followed by CON days 110 to 190; or CON, (n=7) days 30 to 110 followed by NR days 110 to 190. Cows were harvested at days 110 or 190 of gestation, when foetal measurements and samples were collected. Cows that were NR during days 30 to 110 or 110 to 190 of gestation lost significant BW and body condition score (P<0.001), this was associated with reduced plasma glucose during NR (P<0.002). Foetal weights, empty foetal weights, abdominal and thoracic circumferences were all reduced (P<0.03) in day 110 NR animals. Foetal perirenal adipose as a percentage of empty foetal weight was increased (P=0.01) in NR day 110 female foetuses compared with CON foetus. Maternal serum triglycerides at day 110 of gestation were decreased (P<0.05) in NR dams, whereas foetal serum triglycerides were increased (P<0.05) in response to maternal NR. Foetal weights tended to be reduced (P=0.08) in NR/CON and CON/NR v. CON/CON cattle at day 190 of gestation. Empty foetal weights, abdominal and thoracic circumferences were reduced (P⩽0.03) in NR/CON and CON/NR v. CON/CON cattle. Brain weight as a percentage of empty foetal weight was increased (P<0.001) in NR/CON and CON/NR v. CON/CON cattle. Foetal perirenal adipose as a percentage of empty foetal weight was increased (P=0.003) in NR/CON and CON/NR v. CON/CON cattle. Maternal serum triglycerides at day 190 of gestation were decreased (P<0.05) in association with maternal NR. Foetal serum triglycerides at day 190 of gestation were increased (P<0.05) in response to maternal NR during early gestation but decreased by NR in mid gestation compared with CON foetuses. The data show that maternal nutrient restriction during early or mid-gestation cause’s asymmetrical foetal growth restriction, regardless if the restriction is preceded or followed by a period of non-restriction.

Studies on placental size and cardiovascular disease have shown inconsistent results. We followed 10,503 men and women born in Uppsala, Sweden, 1915–1929 from 1964 to 2008 to assess whether birth characteristics, including placental weight and placenta/birth weight ratio, were predictive of future ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Adjustments were made for birth cohort, age, sex, mother’s parity, birth weight, gestational age and social class at birth. Placental weight and birth weight were negatively associated with IHD. The effect of placental weight on IHD was stronger in individuals from medium social class at birth and in those with low education. Men and women from non-manual social class at birth had the lowest risk for IHD as adults. We conclude that low foetal growth rate rather than placental weight was more predictive of IHD in the Swedish cohort. However, the strong effect of social class at birth on risk for IHD did not appear to be mediated by foetal growth rate.

Fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene variants are associated with childhood and adult obesity; however, the influence of FTO polymorphisms on foetal growth is unknown. Associations between the FTO variant rs9939609 and the foetal growth trajectories, maternal pregnancy weight gain, anthropometric measures at birth and body mass index (BMI) at age 14 years were assessed in 1079 singleton-birth Australian Caucasians. Analyses were repeated in 3512 singleton-birth Dutch Caucasians. The rs9939609 obesity-risk AA genotype was associated with symmetrical intrauterine growth restriction; an effect reversed in mothers who smoked during pregnancy. The effect increased over time and was modified by maternal smoking for head circumference (P = 0.007), abdominal circumference (P = 0.007), femur length (P = 0.02) and estimated foetal weight (P = 0.001). The modification of the association between the AA genotype and birth anthropometrics by maternal smoking was consistent across birth weight (P = 0.01) and birth length (P = 0.04) and neonatal day 2 anthropometry. Consistent associations were replicated in the Generation R cohort. Maternal pregnancy weight gain matched the pattern of birth weight and was independent of placental weight. In adolescents, the AA genotype was associated with increased BMI-adjusted-for-age in males (P = 0.00009), but no effect was detected in females. A variant in the FTO gene influences foetal growth trajectories in the third trimester, early postnatal growth and adiposity in adolescence. Maternal smoking during pregnancy reversed the direction of association of rs9939609 on foetal growth, which was probably mediated by maternal energy intake. The detection of genetic variants associated with foetal growth has the potential to identify novel molecular mechanisms underlying growth and targeted early life intervention.

Embryo transfer studies have demonstrated that high plane feeding in early pregnancy is detrimental to the successful establishment of pregnancy in adolescent but not mature ewes. To further examine this relationship with ewes that conceive naturally and to investigate its effects on foetal development, 102 Greyface and Texel×Greyface ewes (body condition score (BCS) 3·8) and 114 Texel×Greyface adolescent ewes (BCS 3·3) were allocated to one of three treatments following a synchronized mating. From day 1 to 31 of pregnancy, animals were offered grass nuts (10·2 MJ metabolizable energy (ME) per kg dry matter (DM); 163 g crude protein per kg DM) at one of three levels to supply approximately 2·0 (H); 1·0 (M) and 0·6 (L) of their predicted ME requirements for maintenance. Increasing the post-mating plane of nutrition resulted in significant increases in ewe live weight (P<0·001) and BCS (P<0·001) during the treatment period. When diets were standardized for all animals during mid pregnancy (days 31 to 105), L ewes gained more live weight (P<0·05) and BCS (P<0·001) than H ewes. Early pregnancy nutrition had no effect on the conception rate of mature ewes; however adolescent ewes on the H and M treatments had lower conception rates (P<0·05) than those offered the L diet (0·59, 0·61 and 0·82 respectively). As a result, L adolescent ewes tended to have a higher mean total lamb birth weight per ewe mated (P=0·09) although lamb output at weaning was not influenced by plane of nutrition. Lambs born from adolescent mothers had lower lamb birth weights (P<0·001) and a shorter mean head length, crown-rump length and thoracic girth (P<0·001). Foetuses from H ewes had longer hind legs than those from L ewes on day 83 of gestation (P<0·05) and at term (P<0·05). The results of this study suggest that allowing adolescent but not mature ewes to lose live weight and body condition can increase the proportion of productive ewes following a natural service.

The timing of implantation, duration of gestation and energetic costs associated with foetal development were examined in the north-west Atlantic grey seal Halichoerus grypus. Implantation occurs between 5 and 8 May. Active gestation lasts for 259–272 days and the duration of suspended development is 78–91 days. The duration of active gestation was slightly shorter among north-east Atlantic grey seals (238–255 days), while suspended development was longer (95–112 days). The rate of foetal growth increased in August, 3 months after attachment, until mid December when it began to slow once again, c. 1 month before parturition. During August, the placenta to foetus mass ratio was about 0.3, but declined to around 0.07 near birth. Foetal energy density increased rapidly reaching asymptotic levels of 22.6 kJ g−1 (dry weight) 3–4 months after implantation. Energy density of the placenta changed only slightly throughout gestation increasing from c. 21.7 to 23 kJ g−1 (dry weight) by the autumn. Energy costs associated with foetal growth are c. 648 MJ.

The reproductive tracts of 152 female Atlantic walruses Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus were analysed. The material was collected between 19 January and 19 November in 1977–78 (n = 44) and 1988–91 (n = 108) from the subsistence hunt by Inuit in north-west Greenland (i.e. in the eastern parts of the North Water polynya in northern Baffin Bay). Seventy-six per cent of the walruses were sexually mature. Oestrus females (n = 23) were found between 19 January and 25 June. Based upon ovarian anatomy, females may ovulate several times during oestrus but ovarian anatomy could not be used to determine if an individual was pregnant. The youngest female that had given birth was 5 years old, indicating that some female Atlantic walruses become sexually mature at 4 years of age. The oldest immature female was 8 years old, and the oldest animal that ovulated for the first time was 11 years. Age-related growth in the reproductive tract indicated that sexual maturity was reached between 6 and 8 years of age. Based on reproductive history of 93 individuals (0–12 years old) the average age of attainment of sexual maturity (i.e. first ovulation) was 6.1 years (95% CI: 5.2–7.1 years). Of 81 mature females collected during May–November, 34.6% were pregnant, 43.2% postpartum and 22.2% inactive. These proportions did not differ from a model assuming a triennial reproductive cycle. Growth in foetal length and mass with time indicated that implantation occurred between 29 June and 11 July or between 26 June and 5 July, respectively. Mean birth date based on observations of 28 newborns was 20 June (range 4 February–11 November).

The emphasis in nutritional studies on foetal growth has now moved from the last trimester of pregnancy, when most of the increase in foetal size takes place, to earlier stages of pregnancy that coincide with foetal organogenesis and tissue hyperplasia. At these stages absolute nutrient requirements for foetal growth are small but foetal metabolic activity and specific growth rate are high. It is thus a time when nutrient supply interacts with maternal factors such as size, body condition and degree of maturity to influence placental growth and set the subsequent pattern of nutrient partitioning between the gravid uterus and maternal body.

Throughout pregnancy the maternal diet controls foetal growth both directly, by supplying essential nutrients and indirectly, by altering the expression of the maternal and foetal endocrine mechanisms that regulate the uptake and utilization of these nutrients by the conceptus. Nutritional effects on the endocrine environment of the embryo during the early stages of cell division can alter the subsequent foetal growth trajectory and size at birth; so too can current in vitro systems for oocyte maturation and embryo culture up to the blastocyst stage. There is increasing evidence that subtle alterations in nutrient supply during critical periods of embryonic and foetal life can impart a legacy of growth and developmental changes that affect neonatal survival and adult performance. Identifying the specific nutrients that programme these effects and understanding their mode of action should provide new management strategies for ensuring that nutritional regimens from oocyte to newborn are such that they maximize neonatal viability and enable animals to express their true genetic potential for production.

The aim of this experiment was to study the effects of dietary energy level and source on foetal growth and survival and mobilization of body stores in concurrently pregnant and lactating primiparous rabbit does. Does were given a moderate-energy diet (≍9·9 MJ digestible energy (DE) per kg dry matter (DM); group M, no. = 23) or a high-energy diet (-12·2 MJ DE per kg DM). In this latter case, additional energy came from starch (group S, no. = 23) or starch and fat (group F, no. = 22). Primiparous rabbit does were mated within 12 h after parturition and were slaughtered on day 28 of gestation-lactation. During the first 21 days, the DE intake and milk production were higher in the group F than in the groups S and M (P < 0·05). On day 28 of pregnancy, the weight of adipose tissues and liver, as well as the lipid content of the carcass, were higher in the groups S and F than in the group M (P < 0·05). Foetal survival and weight were similar in the three groups. These results indicate that increased energy level of the diet did not improve foetal survival or growth in concurrently pregnant and lactating primiparous does. On the contrary, it could reduce the mobilization offat stores, especially if the energy source is starch.

Twenty-five primigravid ewes were used in a preliminary study to investigate the effect of bovine somatotropin (bST) between 97 and 124 days of gestation, on maternaland foetal growthand development. Five ewes (reference group) were slaughteredat 96 days of gestation, and the remaining ewes were injected daily with saline (control group: no = 10) or 0·1 mg/kgbody weight of bST (bST group: no. = 10). Following bST treatment, five control- and five bST groupewes were slaughtered (slaughter group). The remaining ewes (production group) were allowed to lamb, after which the lambs were slaughtered within 2 h of birth. Bovine somatotropin reducedthe proportion of maternal body fat, but had no major impacton wool growth, maternal gain and gross skeletal measurements, and foetal growth and development. Maternal bST treatment tended to affect the number of placentomes. It should, however, be emphasized that these results are based on small numbers of animals and that further research in this area is required.

A theoretical function is proposed which describes the individual weight-age relationship for foetuses in pigs. The function is based on total growth of the litter. A maximum uterus capacity, dependent on insemination weight of the sow, and a limitation of this capacity, dependent on litter size, is assumed. A modified Michaelis-Menten function is used as a basic growth function. The model was tested against experimental data and compared with four models from the literature. Goodness of fit, extrapolation outside the range of data, and biological interpretation of the parameters from the model were checked. A maximum uterus capacity of 20·3 kg for the average insemination weight of 119·0 kg was found. The inflexion point of the model was significantly (P < 0·05) dependent on litter size.