Maternal Nutritional Status and Intrauterine Programming: Epigenetic Mechanisms and Their Impact on Offspring Health.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review summarizing experimental and observational literature
PubMed 42514289 · doi:10.3390/nu18142220
What was done
This narrative review searched PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for literature published between 2000 and 2026 (primarily post-2015) examining maternal nutritional status (undernutrition, overweight, and obesity), intrauterine programming, epigenetic mechanisms, and offspring health outcomes across experimental, clinical, and epidemiological studies.
What was found
No numerical results, effect sizes, or statistical metrics were reported in the abstract. The narrative synthesis notes that maternal undernutrition is associated with intrauterine growth restriction and higher risks of offspring cognitive and metabolic disorders. Maternal overweight and obesity are associated with macrosomia and elevated offspring risks for obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic dysfunction. Both extremes were associated with negative offspring psychological health outcomes.
Why it matters
It highlights maternal nutritional optimization before and during pregnancy as a potential preventive strategy to support favorable intrauterine programming and reduce chronic disease risk in offspring.
Limits
As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic review methodology, quantitative meta-analysis, and risk-of-bias assessment. Human evidence is largely observational, limiting causal conclusions and leaving postnatal environmental and genetic confounders difficult to separate from intrauterine effects.
Cited by
- supports Maternal nutritional status and lifestyle factors during pregnancy influence the child's metabolic health and inflammation set points.