Critical Periods for the Development of Obesity

The mother's nutritional and metabolic environment is critical in determining not only the success of reproduction but also for the future health of the newborn. Maternal genetics, maternal diet during pregnancy, lactation and infant feeding in the early stages of life can have long-term effects on children's health and may predispose to diseases such as obesity. The term "programming“ has been used to describe the process by which stimuli or manipulations applied during critical or sensitive periods of development and organogenesis can cause changes in the long term in structures and functions of the body, compromising the future health of the individual (Barker, 1994; Lucas, 1994; Symonds et al., 2007). The concept “programming” defines the genetic, diet, nutrition and habits in the early stages of life for the pregnant mother and child, which are main factors influencing the optimal neurological and psychological development of children (Dunstan et al., 2008; Helland et al., 2003; Hibbeln et al., 2005; Wells, 2007) and the development of diseases in adulthood (Lucas, 2005; Wells, 2007) such as diabetes (Fernandez-Twinn & Ozanne, 2006), obesity (Budge et al., 2005; Koletzko, 2006), cardiovascular disease (Feldt et al., 2007), some types of cancer (Key et al., 2004) and bone diseases (Sayer & Cooper, 2005) (Figure 1).