We have built a world that no longer fits our bodies. Our genes - selected through our evolution - and the many processes by which our development is tuned within the womb, limit our capacity to adapt to the modern urban lifestyle. There is a mismatch. We are seeing the impact of this mismatch in the explosion of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. But it also has consequences in earlier puberty and old age. Bringing together the latest scientific research in evolutionary biology, development, medicine, anthropology and ecology, Peter Gluckman and Mark Hanson, both leading medical scientists, aed from the hunter-gatherer lifestyles of our ancestors. We have not, however, evolved to reflect this change. Could it be that this 'mismatch' has led to the current deadly explosion in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and obesity, and will it lead to increasingly frequent epidemics? This fascinating and controversial book addresses how we might intervene and challenge a potential health time-bomb.