Early nutrition and later adiposity

The objective was to review whether nutrition during pregnancy and the firs t 3 y of life predisposes individuals to be fatter as adults. The roles of undernutrition, overnutrition and breastfeeding were considered. The eviden ce that poor nutrition in early life is a risk factor for increased fatness later in life is inconclusive, Overnutrition, as proxied by high birthweig ht or gestational diabetes, on the other hand, is associated with subsequen t fatness, Two large, well-conducted studies in developed countries suggest that breastfeeding has a protective effect. Nutrition in early life has a demonstrable but small impact on adult obesity.