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Parental obesity and overweight affect the body-fat accumulation in the offspring: the possible effect of a high-fat diet through epigenetic inheritance

Obes Rev. 2006 May;7(2):201-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2006.00232.x.

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity in adults has been rising continually, as has the prevalence of childhood obesity, and a large number of epidemiological studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between parental obesity and childhood obesity. In this paper, we review the effect of diet, the intrauterine environment, and the genetic inheritance on obesity. We described a study in detail that used experimental animals as a model to investigate the effect of a parental high-fat diet on body-fat accumulation in their offspring. Fertilized eggs were transplanted in that study, and body-fat accumulation in the offspring of the parents fed a high-fat diet was found to be greater than in the offspring of the parents fed a low-fat diet, even when the experimental conditions were the same in the intrauterine and subsequent environment. The results suggested that a parental high-fat diet before intrauterine developmental stage may increase body-fat accumulation in the offspring. We discuss the possibility that parental diet may influence the lifelong health of offspring and epigenetic inheritance may be occurred.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult Children
  • Dietary Fats / administration & dosage*
  • Energy Metabolism / genetics
  • Energy Metabolism / physiology
  • Environment
  • Female
  • Health Behavior
  • Humans
  • Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena*
  • Obesity / epidemiology
  • Obesity / etiology*
  • Obesity / genetics
  • Parents
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects*

Substances

  • Dietary Fats