Andreea Cristian, Jane L Tarry-Adkins, Catherine E Aiken
{"title":"The Uterine Environment and Childhood Obesity Risk: Mechanisms and Predictions.","authors":"Andreea Cristian, Jane L Tarry-Adkins, Catherine E Aiken","doi":"10.1007/s13668-023-00482-z","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Childhood obesity is a growing health problem in many populations, hence the urgent need to unravel the underlying mechanisms. Some evidence suggests that exposure to suboptimal intrauterine environments can program foetal metabolic health, with adverse consequences in later life, including susceptibility to childhood obesity.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>Factors such as high and low foetal birth weight, excessive gestational-weight-gain, maternal stress and smoking are all associated with increased risk of childhood obesity in observational studies. Animal models, where both genetic background and the postnatal environment can be carefully controlled, suggest that several different mechanisms, including epigenetic changes, dysregulation of adipose tissue development and programming of appetite, may be key drivers of developmental programming of childhood obesity. However, the influence of genetics and the post-natal environment are much more difficult to disentangle as independent effects in human studies, which are also complicated by low follow-up rates. Suboptimal intrauterine environments interact with maternal and foetal genetics and with the postnatal environment to contribute to the risk of childhood obesity. Maternal metabolic challenges, for example obesity and insulin resistance, contribute to the risk of foetal overgrowth and subsequent adiposity in childhood. To protect the long-term health of populations, research focusing on effective means of identifying and intervening in the transgenerational cycle of childhood obesity is required.</p>","PeriodicalId":10844,"journal":{"name":"Current Nutrition Reports","volume":"12 3","pages":"416-425"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10444661/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current Nutrition Reports","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-023-00482-z","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NUTRITION & DIETETICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose of review: Childhood obesity is a growing health problem in many populations, hence the urgent need to unravel the underlying mechanisms. Some evidence suggests that exposure to suboptimal intrauterine environments can program foetal metabolic health, with adverse consequences in later life, including susceptibility to childhood obesity.
Findings: Factors such as high and low foetal birth weight, excessive gestational-weight-gain, maternal stress and smoking are all associated with increased risk of childhood obesity in observational studies. Animal models, where both genetic background and the postnatal environment can be carefully controlled, suggest that several different mechanisms, including epigenetic changes, dysregulation of adipose tissue development and programming of appetite, may be key drivers of developmental programming of childhood obesity. However, the influence of genetics and the post-natal environment are much more difficult to disentangle as independent effects in human studies, which are also complicated by low follow-up rates. Suboptimal intrauterine environments interact with maternal and foetal genetics and with the postnatal environment to contribute to the risk of childhood obesity. Maternal metabolic challenges, for example obesity and insulin resistance, contribute to the risk of foetal overgrowth and subsequent adiposity in childhood. To protect the long-term health of populations, research focusing on effective means of identifying and intervening in the transgenerational cycle of childhood obesity is required.
期刊介绍:
This journal aims to provide comprehensive review articles that emphasize significant developments in nutrition research emerging in recent publications. By presenting clear, insightful, balanced contributions by international experts, the journal intends to discuss the influence of nutrition on major health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and obesity, as well as the impact of nutrition on genetics, metabolic function, and public health. We accomplish this aim by appointing international authorities to serve as Section Editors in key subject areas across the field. Section Editors select topics for which leading experts contribute comprehensive review articles that emphasize new developments and recently published papers of major importance, highlighted by annotated reference lists. We also provide commentaries from well-known figures in the field, and an Editorial Board of more than 25 internationally diverse members reviews the annual table of contents, suggests topics of special importance to their country/region, and ensures that topics and current and include emerging research.