Is Fructose Linked to Adiposity in Babies?
| Status: | Archived |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Obesity Weight Loss, Endocrine |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Endocrinology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | Any |
| Updated: | 7/1/2011 |
| Start Date: | January 2011 |
| End Date: | January 2012 |
The obesity epidemic has reached down into the infant and toddler age group. Dietary
indiscretion during pregnancy, particularly in our current food environment, is a major risk
factor for both gestational diabetes and neonatal macrosomia (>4kg newborns), which is
itself a risk factor for obesity and metabolic syndrome in the offspring, possibly even
during childhood. Temporal increases in fructose consumption in the last two decades
coincide with temporal increases weight gain during pregnancy and with increased birth
weight, including a higher prevalence of macrosomic newborns. Our central hypothesis is that
higher fructose consumption during pregnancy is a risk factor for infant obesity and
metabolic syndrome.
The "fetal origins hypothesis" suggests that an individual's risk for obesity and metabolic
disorders begins in utero; that fetal or early postnatal exposure to environmental factors,
such as maternal nutrition or endocrine disrupting chemicals, adversely influences early
development and results in permanent changes affecting energy storage and expenditure.
Most studies on "fetal origins" of obesity in the offspring have focused on maternal
high-fat diets; yet dietary fat consumption has not changed appreciably in the last two
decades. One chemical exposure in both pregnant mothers and newborns that has been steadily
increasing worldwide is fructose. Although ostensibly a carbohydrate, fructose is a potent
lipogenic substrate, and in the hypercaloric state, as much as 30% of an ingested fructose
load undergoes de novo lipogenesis to form triglyceride thus the effects of high-fat and
high-fructose diets in terms of physiology and outcome are comparable. Substituting sucrose
(fructose + glucose) for glucose alone increases visceral adiposity, insulin resistance, and
dyslipidemia in adult animals and humans. For humans, fructose is ubiquitous in the food
environment, especially for pregnant mothers, who are often counseled to drink juice during
pregnancy, as it is deemed to be healthier than soda. The effects of fructose consumption
during pregnancy on infant birth weight and adiposity has not yet been studied.
We found this trial at
1
site
San Francisco General Hospital San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) is an essential...
Click here to add this to my saved trials
