Mark Hanson directs the Institute of Developmental Sciences and is Emeritus British Heart Foundation Professor at the University of Southampton, UK. He is a founder of the International Society for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He has chaired committees and working groups for the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and WHO. He researches early developmental environment effects on health across the life course, mechanisms and interventions, in high and low- to middle-income countries. Mark pioneered 'LifeLab' to promote health literacy in school students. He has authored over 400 papers and 11 academic and popular books and advocates application of developmental science to health policy.

List of Figures; Preface; 1. Now You Are Two ¿ the end of the beginning?; 1.1 Memories are made of this; 1.2 You get that from your father; 1.3 Who cares for you?; 1.4 Parrot fashion; 1.5 Learning on the job; 1.6 Tickling the senses; 1.7 Just checking; 1.8 Self-control; 1.9 Square eyes; 1.10 Learning to protect yourself; 1.11 Gut instinct; 1.12 The end of the beginning; 2. A Narrow Escape; 2.1 On the rocks; 2.2 Who's in control?; 2.3 Exit strategy; 2.4 Best laid plans; 2.5 The compromise; 2.6 Give unto Caesar; 2.7 Constrained circumstances; 2.8 The bigger the better?; 3. Growing in the Dark; 3.1 The stations are not the journey; 3.2 To sleep, perchance tödream; 3.3 Be prepared; 3.4 Practice makes perfect; 3.4 Have a heart; 3.5 Water baby; 3.6 Investing in our bodies; 3.7 A Taste of the Future; 3.8 Nobody is perfect; 3.9 In the darkroom; 4. Sex Appeal; 4.1 Caught in the act; 4.2 50 shades of variation; 4.3 Coding; 4.4 Variety is the spice; 4.5 Grain of salt; 4.6 First conversation; 4.7 Controlling conception; 4.8 Technology to the rescue; 4.9 When is the best time to be conceived?; 5. Shit Happens; 5.1 Managing expectations; 5.2 Lives on the line; 5.3 Greed, gluttony and sloth?; 5.4 A bridge too far; 5.5 The musical score is not the performance; 5.6 I didn't see that coming; 5.7 Man hands on misery to man; 5.8 Women and children last; 6. The Gift; 6.1 Who's in charge here?; 6.2 Homer Simpson's advice; 6.3 The known and the unknown; 6.4 The personal is political; 6.5 Youth voice; 6.6 Get our act together; 6.7 The buck stops here; 6.8 The gift; Acknowledgements; Further Reading; Index.