It has been suggested that the prenatal and early infancy periods may be important times for development of life-long obesity. However, limited research addresses this issue by examining data prospectively collected from pregnancy through the first years of life. Both maternal obesity and diabetes status have been linked with early childhood overweight, yet the pregnancy-specific mechanisms (rather than early childhood or maternal pregravid environmental factors) have yet to be investigated. This talk will examine early determinants of development of overweight from both mechanistic and behavioral approaches using data from the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Study. Data on 400 children will be used to address the following research questions: 1)To what extent does maternal pregravid BMI and glucose tolerance during pregnancy contribute to the child's overweight status at age 3 after controlling for prenatal behaviors (i.e. diet and physical activity)?; 2)Do elevated lipid levels as measured by triglycerides, lipid particle size and concentration during the prenatal period predict childhood weight status at age 3?; and 3) Do high leptin levels during pregnancy predict childhood weight status at age 3?

Location:	E4 Fee Hall
Price:	free
Sponsor:	public
Contact:	Ashley James ajames@epi.msu.edu 353-8623
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