[2] PAR mechanisms were first recognized in research done on human fetuses that investigated whether poor nutrition results in the inevitable diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes in later life.
[4] Examples of PARs include greater helmet development in Daphnia cucullata in response to maternal exposure to predator pheromones,[5] rats exposed to glucocorticoid during late gestation led to an intolerance to glucose as adults,[6] and coat thickness determination in vole pups by the photoperiod length experienced by the mother.
The thrifty phenotype hypothesis is the idea that if an organism suffers from inadequate nutrition in fetal development it will subsequently be predisposed to certain genetic outcomes as an adult.
A longitudinal study performed in Helsinki, Finland investigated whether catch-up growth of smaller children increased the risk of coronary heart disease later in life.
Continued research into predictive adaptive responses has the potential to gain crucial insight into the reasons diseases such as diabetes are so widespread.