Transgenerational and early-life nutrition, epigenetics, and prevention of obesity.

Childhood obesity and associated noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have increased at alarming rates, such that NCDs now account for 60% of deaths globally. Preventing obesity requires the identification of the underlying risk factors and the mediating molecular and physiological mechanisms. There is now substantial observational and experimental evidence indicating that transgenerational maternal and paternal nutritional exposures modulate epigenetic processes, which lead to phenotypic alterations and influence the later risk of obesity and other NCDs. The epigenetic processes involved include DNA methylation, covalent modifications of histones, and noncoding RNAs. Such epigenetic changes are induced during development function at the level of individual Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine (CpG) dinucleotides in both gene promoter and intergenic regions. Elucidation of these epigenetic processes may permit perinatal identification of individuals most at risk of later obesity and other NCDs and aid identification of preventive, early mitigation and novel therapeutic strategies