Hormonal
In utero exposure to undernutrition (famine) increases susceptibility to increased adiposity and disrupted glucose homeostasis in female offspring, whereas male offspring are more susceptible to neurological damage and decreased brain volume.
If you are pregnant or planning pregnancy, be aware that your baby's sex influences how early nutritional stress (like famine or severe restriction) affects them. Female fetuses are more likely to develop metabolic issues (obesity/diabetes risk) if exposed to undernutrition, while male fetuses are more vulnerable to neurological damage. This suggests that optimal maternal nutrition is critical for both, but the specific risks differ by sex.
Females seem particularly susceptible to develop increased adiposity and disrupted glucose homeostasis as a result of exposure to in utero undernutrition or high sugar environments, respectively. The male placenta is particularly vulnerable to damage by adverse nutritional states and this may underlie some of the metabolic phenotypes observed in adulthood.
Why this rating
Based on large-scale human cohort studies (Dutch Hunger Winter) and consistent animal models, though the paper is a review summarizing these.
Source
Sex and gender differences in developmental programming of metabolism
Laura Dearden et al. · Molecular Metabolism · 2018
DOI 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.04.007
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