Background
DISEASE
Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) research has manifested in a substantial number of studies on the potential effects of the health and lifestyle of mothers around the time of pregnancy on the health of their children. Consequently, a structural imbalance in DOHaD data exists in that there is much less paternal and postnatal data as compared to maternal data during pregnancy. This imbalance can be lessened by more good quality data of potential postnatal, partner and paternal effects [Although the role of fathers is not always clear, and norms around interactions with their children can be complicated and inconsistent in South Africa, [