A wealth of animal and human studies demonstrate that perinatal exposure to adverse
metabolic conditions–be it maternal obesity, diabetes or under-nutrition–results in
predisposition of offspring to develop obesity later in life. This mechanism is a contributing
factor to the exponential rise in obesity rates. Increased weight gain in offspring exposed to
maternal obesity is usually associated with hyperphagia, implicating altered central
regulation of energy homeostasis as an underlying cause. Perinatal development of the …