Characterising Public Understanding of DOHaD to Inform Communication Strategies

Abstract

Research question: To characterize the level of understanding of DOHaD concepts in an urban adult population in New Zealand. Methods: A structured questionnaire was used to ascertain knowledge of DOHaD concepts in the general public. Structured oral interviews were conducted outside of a popular retail store in socio-economically varied suburbs of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. Results: The cohort (n =900) shows a relatively low level of understanding of DOHaD concepts. In comparison to common public health messages, such as ‘the food we eat effects our health and wellbeing’, the DOHaD messages of ‘the food a mother eats during pregnancy may affect the health of the baby through to adulthood’ is about a third lower (98% to 60%). In comparison, 80% of the cohort agreed that the tobacco smoke exposure of the mother and father would affect the health of the child in adulthood. Conclusion: Given that 11% of premature morbidity and mortality in New Zealand is caused by the 4 main NCDs (Cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases), these data highlight the need for public health interventions, centred on DOHaD concept translation. Validation of the survey tool across a range of contexts offers potential for future intervention impact comparison