Campoy C.: Childhood Obesity Prevention: Impact of nutrition during pregnancy

The ESPGHAN podcast series today addresses three points that have defined the recent career of Dr Cristina Campoy Folgoso, professor and chair of paediatrics at the Medical University of Granada, Spain.  These ar : How maternal nutritional status can determine the offspring's growth and body composition during childhood ; which interventions during pregnancy may effectively prevent childhood obesity ; and which nutrients are most associated with the risk of childhood obesity.  Prof Campoy touches on timing of nutritional events during pregnancy, with the early observation that mothers starved in the last trimester have small babies excessively avid for nutriment, babies who over-produce adipocytes and develop metabolic disorders, an observation duplicated in animals.  Similarly over-avid babies are born overweight to obese or diabetic mothers, with similar predispositions to multi-organ dysfunction.  The placenta can compensate only so far for hyperalimentation owing to maternal overnutrition, it seems.  However, folic-acid and fatty-acid supplementation of the maternal diet may assist in dampening adipocytogenesis.  In addition, the newborn infant during its first year can reverse some of the changes induced by placental transfer of too many nutrients, although the reversal may take some time to become clinically evident.  Concerns that have arisen include transmission of the dysfunctional enterobiome from obese mother to the infant gut, with abnormal imprinting . . .  the effects go on and on, the echoes in systems seemingly remote from bowel and fatty tissue are becoming audible only now, and much exciting investigation is opening up. Literature : Martino J et al.  Maternal body weight and gestational diabetes differentially influence placental and pregnancy outcomes.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2016 Jan 101(1):59-68.  doi:  10.1210/jc.2015-2590.  Epub 2015 Oct 29.  PMID:  26513002.   Wahab RJ et al.  Associations of maternal early-pregnancy dietary glycemic index with childhood general abdominal and ectopic fat accumulation.  Clin Nutr 2021 Apr 40(4):1628-1636.  doi:  10.1016/j.clnu.2021.02.046.  Epub 2021 Mar 6.  PMID:  33752151.  PMCID:  PMC7613756. Hull HR et al.  Growth and adiposity in newborns study (GAINS):  The influence of prenatal DHA supplementation protocol.  Contemp Clin Trials 2023 Sep 132:107279.  doi:  10.1016/j.cct.2023.107279.  Epub 2023 Jul 3.  PMID:  37406769.  PMCID:  PMC10852997. Dr. Campoy´s favourite song: Taco's Rojas - Sebastian Yatra https://open.spotify.com/track/0Be7sopyKMv8Y8npsUkax2?si=981260cc5f6343cf ESPGHAN favourite Songs can be found on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0YIHKjxITLEm9XNyHyypTo

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