In Australia 1 in 5 adults have diabetes, heart or kidney disease, costing the health care system more than $10 billion. Poor growth during pregnancy, either due to under or over nutrition results in babies that are more likely to have chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart or kidney disease in adulthood. This is often due to changes in the organs as a result of an adverse exposure occurring in a critical developmental time period. However, the epigenetic changes underlying these organ changes have not been fully characterised. We have used rodent models to determine the epigenetic changes in the organs of offspring exposed to an adverse environment early in life. Understanding these changes may help provide the key to targets for intervention or prevention.