Okay, I know that I write a lot about babies, but I can't help it! I hear about them in classes, I read about them in textbooks, and I write about them in papers... It is exhausting.
Anyway, I want to write about my new fetish, the Fetal Origin Theory. I was at the Provo library yesterday, returning a photography book, when a bright blue book entitled Origins practically assaulted me. I picked it up and started reading the description.
Fascinating.
It all started a few weeks ago when I saw a brief preview for the BBC documentary The Nine Months That Made You. This documentary is about the Fetal Origin Theory; a theory which that is based on the idea that the susceptibility toward certain diseases (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular, etc) are actually determined by your environment in the womb. I wasn't so sure about the validity of the theory, so I never watched it. However, after I started reading Origins I thought I would give the documentary a second chance. I watched it last night and was blown away. I definitely recommend watching it. However, keep in mind it is only a (new) theory, and research has only been conducted in the last twenty years.
If you are interested in watching the documentary, it is located on youtube. It is in four parts, each is about fifteen minutes. Once you start the first part the other parts will follow automatically in playlist style.
Out of the two, I think the book is better. It answers more questions, has (more) evidence to support it, and the authors writing style is very interesting. The author is a science journalist and has written for The New York Times and Discovery. The book is organized by chapters that are in chronological order (month one, month two, etc), and each chapter is based on studies and evidence found during that month of pregnancy. If you have ever thought about what happens to (and effects) the fetus during the nine months you are pregnant (or what happened while you were being created) you will enjoy this book. I highly recommend it. Like I said, it's just a theory, so I'm not promoting this as a scientific truth, it just gives you something to think about :)
Do I read any books that do not involved babies, children, or families? Yes, sometimes.
That was a theory we discussed in grad school and it makes so much sense to me and I loved reading the research behind it too. Always gave me extra incentive to be extra healthy while pregnant.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! This gives us more health-nutty stuff to talk about :) The part that drew me in the most is that it makes so much sense, like you said.
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