7 / 18
7
t h
E u r o p e a n C o n g r e s s o n
Obesity and
Eating Disorder
Obesity 2018
Journal of Obesity & Eating Disorders
ISSN 2471-8203
A p r i l 1 2 - 1 3 , 2 0 1 8
Am s t e r d a m , N e t h e r l a n d s
Page 49
P
regnancies complicated by maternal obesity and diabetes,
result in increased fetal growth and development, that
affect up to 1 in 3 pregnant women and are associated
with risk of early onset childhood obesity, cardiometabolic
and liver diseases during adolescence. Unfortunately,
few effective treatments and intervention strategies are
available, leaving these large patient groups with few options.
Furthermore, emerging evidence clearly shows that adverse
influences during fetal life, particularly dietary fats, can have
a major impact on all organ systems, leading to metabolic,
cardiopulmonary and neuropsychiatric disease later in
life. There is an urgent need to identify early maternal and
infant bioenergetic, epigenetic, inflammatory, and microbial
biomarkers that mark mechanisms underlying metabolic
disease in the next generation. Clinical studies using
meticulously characterized cohorts of pregnant women and
infants and state-of-the art methodologies are being used in
Colorado to identify critical associations between adverse
The first 1000 days of life – how nutrition in the
womb may be fueling the obesity epidemic
Jacob E (Jed) Friedman
University of Colorado, USA
J Obes Eat Disord 2018, Volume: 4
DOI: 10.21767/2471-8203-C1-009
influences and short- and long-term outcomes. In this lecture,
we discuss how maternal and fetal/infant exposures can
shift key pathways that may provide early clues mechanisms
affecting appetite, and metabolic health in newborn infants
during the first 1000 days of life. We have been doing research
showing that obese women have higher glucose levels than
normal weight women, and they also have higher triglycerides.
When born with excess fat, their risk for childhood obesity is
accelerated. To reduce the chances of a too-big baby and the
resulting health risks, we are studying a diet that calls for a
balance of complex carbohydrates and lower fat. What is unique
about this study is that all meals are provided to themothers and
an initial study of this approach provided encouraging results.
We hope that for the first time, we can finally determine the
ideal diet for mothers with gestational diabetes, and perhaps
for all pregnant women, to optimize both maternal and baby.
Jed.Friedman@ucdenver.edu