Effect of Mediterranean Diet During Pregnancy on the Onset of Overweight and Obesity in the Offspring

Effect of Mediterranean Diet During Pregnancy on the Onset of Overweight and Obesity at 24 Months in the Offspring

The first 1,000 days of life, from the conception to 24 months, are crucial to achieve long-term health outcomes and represent a strategic period to intervene under prevention and public health perspective. Nutritional exposures during this critical period of life can influence the future disease susceptibility. Maternal diet during pregnancy has been linked to offspring overweight/obesity risk and it could represent a potential target for overweight/obesity prevention. The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is considered one of the healthiest dietary models, which impacts beneficially the gut microbiome (GM), providing high amounts of fiber, antioxidants polyphenols and vitamins, and a balanced ratio of essential fatty acids (ω6:ω3). Notably, the MD beneficial effects are due to the synergistic and interactive combinations of nutrients, and the modulation of gene expression through epigenetic changes. Unofrtunately, the MD mechanisms during pregnancy in the prevention of childhood overweight/obesity are not yet fully known.

The PREMEDI study has been designed to evaluate the effects of Mediterranean Diet during pregnancy on the occurrence of overweight/obesity at 24 months in the offspring.

Inclusion Criteria:

• women
• caucasian ethnicity
• aged between 20 and 35 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• proven presence of infections during pregnancy and at delivery,
• twin pregnancy,
• ongoing malignancies,
• major gastrointestinal tract malformations,
• immunodeficiencies,
• diabetes and other chronic diseases at each organ or apparatus level,
• chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases,
• gastrointestinal function disorders,
• celiac disease;
• history of abdominal surgery with intestinal resection,
• neuropsychiatric disorders,
• central nervous system disorders,
• vegan diet.