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Using the ‘shit’ of the current COVID-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future

Studies of past crises have demonstrated that adverse experiences during critical periods of human development hamper the individual’s ability to reach its full potential and leaves lasting marks on health, behaviour, productivity and society as a whole. The COVID-19 crisis has severely worsened the...

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Autor principal: Roseboom, Tessa
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7841809/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33521555
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000122
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author Roseboom, Tessa
author_facet Roseboom, Tessa
author_sort Roseboom, Tessa
collection PubMed
description Studies of past crises have demonstrated that adverse experiences during critical periods of human development hamper the individual’s ability to reach its full potential and leaves lasting marks on health, behaviour, productivity and society as a whole. The COVID-19 crisis has severely worsened the environment in which we live and in which our future generations are being shaped, and will lead to loss of future human potential and capital. It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic does not only harm the current world population, but also affects our future, as well as that of future generations. The science of transgenerational plasticity demonstrates that investments in early life hold the promise of having beneficial effects across multiple generations. As governments are reopening societies and prioritising policies, their overarching goal should be to improve the environment in which future generations grow and develop, learn and live. This will change the lifetime trajectories of children for the better and affect future health, school success, behaviour, productivity and well-being. This prioritisation will prove to be the most effective intervention to build sustainable futures but will also yield returns many times the original investment. It is a promising way to break the intergenerational cycle of adversity and accelerate progress on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
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spelling pubmed-78418092021-01-29 Using the ‘shit’ of the current COVID-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future Roseboom, Tessa BMJ Nutr Prev Health PostScript Studies of past crises have demonstrated that adverse experiences during critical periods of human development hamper the individual’s ability to reach its full potential and leaves lasting marks on health, behaviour, productivity and society as a whole. The COVID-19 crisis has severely worsened the environment in which we live and in which our future generations are being shaped, and will lead to loss of future human potential and capital. It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic does not only harm the current world population, but also affects our future, as well as that of future generations. The science of transgenerational plasticity demonstrates that investments in early life hold the promise of having beneficial effects across multiple generations. As governments are reopening societies and prioritising policies, their overarching goal should be to improve the environment in which future generations grow and develop, learn and live. This will change the lifetime trajectories of children for the better and affect future health, school success, behaviour, productivity and well-being. This prioritisation will prove to be the most effective intervention to build sustainable futures but will also yield returns many times the original investment. It is a promising way to break the intergenerational cycle of adversity and accelerate progress on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. BMJ Publishing Group 2020-07-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7841809/ /pubmed/33521555 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000122 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
spellingShingle PostScript
Roseboom, Tessa
Using the ‘shit’ of the current COVID-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future
title Using the ‘shit’ of the current COVID-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future
title_full Using the ‘shit’ of the current COVID-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future
title_fullStr Using the ‘shit’ of the current COVID-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future
title_full_unstemmed Using the ‘shit’ of the current COVID-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future
title_short Using the ‘shit’ of the current COVID-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future
title_sort using the ‘shit’ of the current covid-19 crisis as fertiliser for the soil to lay the foundations of a new and sustainable era: lessons from past crises to improve the future
topic PostScript
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7841809/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33521555
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000122
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