The Evolution of a New Research Field: Metabolic Programming by Early Nutrition
Abstract
The Evolution of a New Research Field: Metabolic Programming by Early Nutrition 1 Susan B. Roberts 2 and Roger McDonald * The Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, and * Department of Nutrition, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616 The possibility that the foods consumed during the first weeks and months of life may have permanent effects on metabolism was recognized more than 30 y ago in rodents ( McCance 1962 ). Subsequent studies, also in animals, demonstrated permanent effects of early diet on adult metabolism, body composition and cognitive function ( Hahn 1984 , Smart 1986 ). These results are without question dramatic but failed to generate sustained interest because it was not known whether similar long-term effects of early diet might be found in humans. Indeed, the fact that humans are developmentally more mature at birth than laboratory rodents suggests that they may be much less susceptible to the long-term influences of early diet. This symposium brings together three scientists actively investigating metabolic programming by early diet in humans, to discuss new evidence from humans and nonhuman primates that the foods consumed during infancy and