High-fat diet in pregnancy can cause mental health problems in offspring
"Given the high level of dietary fat consumption and maternal obesity in developed nations, these findings have important implications for the mental health of future generations," the researchers report. The research was published in the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology . The study, led by Elinor Sullivan, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Division of Neuroscience at Oregon National Primate Research Center at OHSU, tested the effect of a maternal high-fat diet on nonhuman primates, tightly controlling their diet in a way that would be impossible in a human population. The study revealed behavioral changes in the offspring associated with impaired development of the central serotonin system in the brain. Further, it showed that introducing a healthy diet to the offspring at an early age failed to reverse the effect. Previous observational studies in people correlated maternal obesity with a range of mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders in children. T...