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Early intervention is among the most effective ways to reduce the risk of chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes, scientists believe. A study just getting under way is taking that to a new extreme: targeting fetuses still developing in the womb.

The study, sponsored by the U.K. government, aims to use medication to change the environment in the uterus of pregnant women in order to improve the child's health later in life, a concept known as fetal programming.

Many aspects of our metabolism are established while in the womb, including how we regulate body temperature and digest food. By influencing such processes in a fetus, using drugs, nutritional supplements or changes to the mother's diet, scientists hope to set the child on a more healthful path for life.

Our health is determined by many factors. People's genetic makeup can predispose them for various disorders. And lifestyle can reduce or exacerbate health risks.

Nature and Nurture

But in recent years, researchers have painted an increasingly clear picture of how important babies' time in the womb is for health. Studies have shown...