Few studies have been conducted on the relationship between “outside-residing” resilience characteristics and the risk of developing drug use disorder later in life. These characteristics include responsive and caring parenting, household routines involving regular family meals and bedtime routines, social support from peers, participation in organized activities, and religious service attendance.

It may seem irony that nutrition science historically pertained mostly to undernutrition and deficiency syndromes [1] but nowadays prevention, control and treatment of overnutrition, manifested as overweight and obesity, has become the main task of most nutritionists and related professionals [2]. 

Adrenarche, the post-natal onset of adrenal production of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) and its sulfate (DHEA-S) marks the 5-8 transition and the onset of middle childhood. However, the role of DHEA and/or DHEA-S in the cognitive, emotional and physical changes of the so-called 5-8 transition are not well-understood. 

The significance of the first years of living in determining mental health later in life has been acknowledged since the early psychoanalytic approaches to the understanding of mental illness delivered by Sigmund and Anna Freud, Rene Spitz and John Bowlby. Empirical research since then has documented the early childhood origin of most mental disorders seen in older children and adolescents. Birth cohort studies have provided evidence on the interplay of genes and environment from early stages of prenatal life and the longterm influences of pre-and perinatal risk factors.

We have made an extensive study of the development of picky eating behavior in childhood, and its effects on diet and growth, using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Mothers were recruited during pregnancy in 1991/2 and they and their child have been followed using questionnaires plus measurements at research clinics from infancy onwards. A wealth of information was collected prospectively about feeding the child in their first 1000 days and beyond. Questions were asked at regular intervals about difficulties parents had in feeding their child and how they responded to these difficulties.