title: Preventing Obesity Across Generations: Evidence for Early Life Intervention.
abstract: To prevent the intergenerational transfer of obesity and end the current epidemic, interventions are needed across the early life stages, from preconception to prenatal to infancy through the age of 2 years. The foundation for obesity is laid in early life by actions and interactions passed from parent to child that have long-lasting biologic and behavioral consequences. The purpose of this paper is to examine the best evidence about (a) factors in parents and offspring that promote obesity during the early life stages, (b) the social determinants and dimensions of obesity in early life, (c) promising and effective interventions for preventing obesity in early life, and (d) opportunities for future research into strategies to disrupt the intergenerational cycle of obesity that begins early in life. The pathway for halting the intergenerational obesity epidemic requires the discovery and development of evidence-based interventions that can act across multiple dimensions of influence on early life.
authors.affiliation: Public Health and Medicine.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haire-Joshu
authors.affiliation: Prevention Research Center, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130; email: djoshu@wustl.edu , rtabak@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tabak
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008019:Life Style; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010290:Parents; D016742:Preconception Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012890:Sleep; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: intergenerational obesity; intrauterine environment; preconception; prenatal; social determinants