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Influence of Adipose Tissue on Early Metabolic Programming: Conditioning Factors and Early Screening
Maria Puche-Juarez1,2,3, Juan M Toledano1,2,3, Julio J Ochoa1,2
1Department of Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Campus Universitario de Cartuja, University of Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain.
Insights
Maternal factors during pregnancy significantly impact childhood obesity. Healthy lifestyle choices from pregnancy through early childhood are crucial for preventing long-term metabolic diseases and promoting lifelong health.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Biology
- Pediatric Health
- Metabolic Syndrome
Background:
- Obesity is a global health crisis with significant comorbidities.
- Maternal environment during pregnancy influences offspring's long-term obesity risk.
- Factors like maternal diet and gestational diabetes impact fetal growth and body composition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent human studies on fetal adipose tissue programming.
- To identify modifiable factors influencing fetal adiposity.
- To inform strategies for preventing later-life health disorders.
Main Methods:
- Bibliographic review of human studies.
- Focus on research from the last ten years.
- Analysis of factors affecting fetal adipose tissue development.
Main Results:
- Maternal nutrition and lifestyle are key determinants of fetal adiposity.
- Gestational weight gain and diabetes influence newborn body composition.
- Early life environment programs metabolic health trajectories.
Conclusions:
- A healthy diet and lifestyle during pregnancy and early childhood are vital.
- The first two years of life are critical for establishing optimal health.
- Interventions can prevent noncommunicable diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Background:
Obesity and being overweight have become one of the world's most severe health issues, not only because of the pathology but also because of the development of related comorbidities. Even when children reach adulthood, the mother's environment during pregnancy has been found to have a significant impact on obesity prevention in children. Thus, both maternal dietary habits and other factors such as gestational diabetes mellitus, excessive weight gain during pregnancy, smoking, or endocrine factors, among others, could influence newborn growth, adiposity, and body composition at birth, in childhood and adolescence, hence programming health in adulthood.
Methods:
The aim of this review is to analyze the most recent human studies on the programming of fetal adipose tissue to determine which modifiable factors may influence adiposity and thus prevent specific disorders later in life by means of a bibliographic review of articles related to the subject over the last ten years.
Conclusions:
The importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle not only during pregnancy and the first months of life but also throughout childhood, especially during the first two years of life as this is a period of great plasticity, where the foundations for optimal health in later life will be laid, preventing the emergence of noncommunicable diseases including obesity, diabetes mellitus type 2, hypertension, being overweight, and any other pathology linked to metabolic syndrome, which is so prevalent today, through health programs beginning at a young age.
