A mother's gift: consequences of unhealthy diet for offspring metabolism

Maternal and paternal exercise regulate offspring metabolic health and beta cell phenotype

“…In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that susceptibility to obesity and type 2 diabetes is strongly influenced by exposure to an adverse intrauterine environment during early development 2 3. In addition, human epidemiological studies,4 5 as well as rodent studies,6–9 have shown that both maternal4–7 10 11 and paternal8 9 12–14 environmental exposures are critical factors influencing the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes in offspring. This can lead to a vicious cycle of metabolic dysfunction, where rising rates of obesity, pre-diabetes, and diabetes in individuals of reproductive age are propagated through subsequent generations.…”