Maternal Diet and Epigenetic Modifications at the Start of Life: Repercussions on the Development of Obesity

Objectives: Thus, the objective of the study was to evaluate the repercussions of the maternal diet and epigenetic changes in early life and its repercussions on the development of obesity. Methods: For this, a narrative review of a descriptive character was developed using the following descriptors: “Maternal diet”, “epigenetics” and “obesity”. The articles published between the years 2015 to 2020 were selected from the databases: Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo), National Library of Medicine (PubMed) and Virtual Health Library of the Ministry of Health (VHL). Results: It was observed that the intake of maternal high-fat diets promotes the appearance of epigenetic changes that favor the appearance of diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, in addition to increasing food intake, and consequently increasing body weight. Conclusions: Thus, the importance of healthy eating is observed during critical periods of development to prevent the onset of cardiometabolic diseases.