Differential genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in childhood obesity

Objective Exposure to stress during pregnancy may program susceptibility to the development of obesity in offspring. Our goal was to determine whether prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) due to a natural disaster was associated with child obesity, and to compare the DNA methylation profiles in obese versus non-obese children at age 13½ years. Women and their children were involved in the longitudinal natural disaster study—Project Ice Strom, which served as a human model to study PNMS. Blood was collected from 31 children (including five obese children). Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip Array was performed for genome-wide DNA methylation analyses.