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Developmental Plasticity Basis
According to a 2011 article in "Frontiers of Endocrinology," the environment influences the "phenotype" or physical attributes of the person by working at a genetic level. Previously, developmental scientists believed that humans had a genetic blueprint that was unaffected by environmental cues. Although people are born with a genetic code and the code does not change, scientists now know that the products of this code, which are the basis of normal life and growth, can be silenced or boosted by environmental signals.
Mechanisms
The information in genes is used by the body to produce proteins. Proteins have myriad functions, such as signal molecules, raw materials for biological structures, or enzymes to catalyze reactions. If you can block a gene from producing a protein, then you can alter the way in which the body functions. The production of a protein by the body reading a gene is called "gene expression"; developmental plasticity originates from alteration of gene expression. The ways in which the body can change the expression of genes include methylation of DNA, non-coding RNA expression, and histone covalent modification.
Gestation and Infancy
Maternal nutrition can affect the future workings of a baby's body. A mother who eats well "signals" to her baby that the environment outside has sufficient food. Therefore, the baby will not need an extra-efficient metabolism. Babies born to mothers who eat poorly, whether because of real famine or because of lifestyle choices, will be adapted for food scarcity with a small body size and a metabolism that efficiently processes energy and nutrients out of food. These "thrifty" kids in developed countries are then at risk of metabolic conditions like Type II diabetes because their environment is actually rich in food. These kids are also at higher risk of cardiovascular disease because their uterine environment mistakenly prepared them for food sources low in fat and carbohydrates.
Childhood
According to a 2012 article in "Environmental Health," plasticity occurs at different times in different human tissues. Some tissues, like the brain and the reproductive organs, can even be influenced by developmental plasticity in adolescence. For example, an environment that allows kids to grow quickly and put on weight easily has been shown to reduce the age at which kids enter puberty. According to the 2011 "Frontiers in Endocrinology" article, in the last 150 years, European men have become 13cm (about 5 inches) taller on average, and girls in Western countries are having their first period four years earlier.
Adolescence
Adolescence is a time when the brain undergoes significant plastic development. A teenager's brain develops in portions, with the sensory part of the brain more mature than the "sensible" cortex. The cortex is the part of the brain involved in higher functions like planning and risk analysis. This is why teenagers tend to be emotional risk-takers that seek new experiences, and environmental cues during this time influence the cortex as it matures.