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Transgenerational effects of caloric restriction on appetite: a meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Lagisz M.,
Blair H.,
Kenyon P.,
Uller T.,
Raubenheimer D.,
Nakagawa S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
obesity reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.845
H-Index - 162
eISSN - 1467-789X
pISSN - 1467-7881
DOI - 10.1111/obr.12138
Subject(s) - offspring , appetite , caloric theory , obesity , body mass index , malnutrition , biology , physiology , endocrinology , meta analysis , medicine , pregnancy , genetics
Summary Maternal undernutrition can result in significant alterations to the post‐natal offspring phenotype, including body size and behaviour. For example, maternal food restriction has been implicated in offspring hyperphagia, potentially causing increased weight gain and fat accumulation. This could result in obesity and other adverse long‐term health effects in offspring. We investigated the link between maternal caloric restriction during gestation and offspring appetite by conducting the first meta‐analysis on this topic using experimental data from mammalian laboratory models (i.e. rats and mice). We collected 89 effect sizes from 35 studies, together with relevant moderators. Our analysis revealed weak and statistically non‐significant overall effect on offspring's appetite. However, we found that lower protein content of restricted diets is associated with higher food intake in female offspring. Importantly, we show that a main source of variation among studies arises from whether, and how, food intake was adjusted for body mass. This probably explains many of the contradictory results in the field. Based on our results, we recommend using allometric scaling of food intake to body mass in future studies.