Mouse pups from smaller litters—or those with better access to nutrition—developed more unhealthy, inflamed fat, new research shows.
When they were placed on a high-fat diet later in life, they developed an obesity profile that suggested an increased risk for diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.
The takeaway for humans is that infant nutrition between birth and weaning is a critical period for healthy development—not just for future obesity risk but also for risk of obesity-related diseases later in life.
“The human translation would be a parent overfeeding his or her baby, giving the baby more formula or other sugary beverages in the bottle, to keep the baby happy, or to get the baby to sleep,” says Michael I. Goran, professor of preventive medicine, physiology and biophysics, and pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California and director of the USC Childhood Obesity Research Center.
