title: Maternal diet, behaviour and offspring skeletal health.
abstract: Osteoporotic fracture has a major impact upon health, both in terms of acute and long term disability and economic cost. Peak bone mass, achieved in early adulthood, is a major determinant of osteoporosis risk in later life. Poor early growth predicts reduced bone mass, and so risk of fracture in later life. Maternal lifestyle, body build and 25(OH) vitamin D status predict offspring bone mass. Recent work has suggested epigenetic mechanisms as key to these observations. This review will explore the role of the early environment in determining later osteoporotic fracture risk.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK. lrg@mrc.soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Laura R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Goodfellow
authors.forename: Susannah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Earl
authors.forename: Cyrus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Nicholas C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Harvey
mesh_terms: D001846:Bone Development; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D011247:Pregnancy