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Review
. 2019 Oct;62(10):1773-1778.
doi: 10.1007/s00125-019-4930-1. Epub 2019 Aug 27.

Developmental undernutrition, offspring obesity and type 2 diabetes

Aryeh D Stein  1 , Okezi E Obrutu  1 , Rishikesh V Behere  2 , Chittaranjan S Yajnik  3
Affiliations
Review

Developmental undernutrition, offspring obesity and type 2 diabetes

Aryeh D Stein et al. Diabetologia. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) paradigm posits that a mismatch between circumstances at or around conception and in later life leads to metabolic dysregulation and the development of obesity and diabetes. In this review we highlight three strands of evidence: prospective studies of patterns of growth from birth to adulthood, historical studies of exposure to famine at defined points during gestation and early life, and nutrition intervention studies. We conclude that, while much is still unknown, it is becoming clearer that the combination of early-life undernutrition and later development of obesity is associated with increased risk of diabetes. There is a need to support public health programmes aimed at intergenerational (primordial) prevention of diabetes and other non-communicable disease.

Keywords: Life course development; Obesity; Review; Type 2 diabetes; Undernutrition.

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Conflict of interest statement

Duality of interest The authors declare that there is no duality of interest associated with this manuscript.

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