title: Effects of in utero conditions on adult feeding preferences.
abstract: The fetal or early origins of adult disease hypothesis states that environmental factors, particularly nutrition, act in early life to program the risks for chronic diseases in adult life. As eating habits can be linked to the development of several diseases including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, it could be proposed that persistent food preferences across the life-span in people who were exposed to an adverse fetal environment may partially explain their increased risk to develop metabolic disease later in life. In this paper, we grouped the clinical and experimental evidence demonstrating that the fetal environment may impact the individual's food preferences. In addition, we review the feeding preferences development and regulation (homeostatic and hedonic pathways, the role of taste/olfaction and the reward/pleasure), as well as propose mechanisms linking early life conditions to food preferences later in life. We review the evidence suggesting that in utero conditions are associated with the development of specific food preferences, which may be involved in the risk for later disease. This may have implications in terms of public health and primary prevention during early ages.
authors.affiliation: 1Núcleo de Estudos da Saúde da Criança e do Adolescente (NESCA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Portella
authors.affiliation: 2Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kajantie
authors.affiliation: 2Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hovi
authors.affiliation: 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Torrance, California, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.affiliation: 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Torrance, California, USA.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: 1Núcleo de Estudos da Saúde da Criança e do Adolescente (NESCA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: M Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Goldani
authors.affiliation: 5Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Roseboom
authors.affiliation: 1Núcleo de Estudos da Saúde da Criança e do Adolescente (NESCA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Silveira