Effects of maternal undernutrition during pregnancy and postnatal high fat nutrition on preference for voluntary exercise versus eating: Relations between behavioural changes and endocrine and metabolic profiles

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Korinna Huber
• Subject Area: Animal Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Husbandry
• Term: from 2006 to 2008
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 24286394

This research programme addresses fundamental principles underlying the aetiology of obesity and metabolic dysregulation, specifically the supply and cost of procuring both food and exercise, and the interplay with voluntary physical activity. These studies will increase the basic understanding of prenatal and postnatal environmental factors that influence lifestyle choices, a process of major significance in the development of obesity and metabolic disorders. An important potential outcome of this study will be the identification of conditions during development that influence metabolic regulation and long-term health. A permanent shift in how choices are made, determined by developmental conditions, will have substantial and potentially wide-ranging effects throughout the lifespan. This research project will allow the applicant: a) to initiate a detailed analysis of the behavioural and physiological basis of lifestyle choices; b) to identify specific components of nutritional influences (e.g., nutrition during pregnancy) that may be responsible for alterations in choices; and c) to use metabolic and endocrine parameters as markers to develop strategies for diagnosis and treatment of individuals influenced by adverse environments during development who are at risk of adult complications like obesity, hyperinsulinism, hypertension and diabetes.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: New Zealand
• Host: Professor Bernhard B. Breier, Ph.D.