PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Gluckman, Peter D. AU - Hanson, Mark AU - Zimmet, Paul AU - Forrester, Terrence TI - Losing the War Against Obesity: The Need for a Developmental Perspective AID - 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002554 DP - 2011 Jul 27 TA - Science Translational Medicine PG - 93cm19--93cm19 VI - 3 IP - 93 4099 - http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/3/93/93cm19.short 4100 - http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/3/93/93cm19.full AB - Developed countries are struggling to control epidemics of obesity and related chronic diseases; thus, we can expect only limited success from applying the current approaches to the developing world, which is experiencing an alarming increase in such disorders. This failure results in part from the fact that our focus on adult life-styles, although important, ignores data that suggest that biological and cultural factors operating early in life affect adult health status. To stem the rising obesity burden in developing countries, scientists and policy-makers must address obesity-promoting factors from early development to adulthood.