Maternal Obesity in Pregnancy: Risk Factor for Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Offspring

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic disease marked by changes in the function of various tissue and organs, driven by excessive fat accumulation. In recent years obesity was characterized not just by the increase of fat, but also an imbalance of energy homeostasis mechanisms. In parallel with global rise in obesity, the incidence of obesity during pregnancy and lactation had also been steadily increasing. Maternal obesity is a public health issue that affects the child and the mother, in acute and chronic term, being a risk factor for the development of metabolic, hormonal, neurodevelopmental, and psychiatric disorders in offspring. Obesity during the gestation can reprogram the fetal immune, metabolic, endocrine, and neurological systems, influencing offspring's metabolism and mental health. This is supported by the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) theory, which proposes that environmental factors during critical periods of early development (as the fetal period) can influence the risk of developing diseases later in life. In this review, we focused on how maternal obesity can affect the brain offspring neurodevelopment, neural circuits, synapses, glial cells, and neuroinflammation, which all can influence offspring behavioral disorders.