Research

Hormonal

In utero exposure to overnutrition (maternal obesity/high sugar) increases susceptibility to increased adiposity and disrupted glucose homeostasis in female offspring, whereas male offspring are more susceptible to changes in adiposity and body weight in some models, or hypothalamic inflammation.

Maternal obesity and high-sugar diets during pregnancy program offspring for metabolic disease differently based on sex. Female offspring are particularly at risk for glucose homeostasis disruption and adiposity. This underscores the importance of managing maternal metabolic health before and during pregnancy, with awareness that the risks manifest differently in boys and girls.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
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.
Laura Dearden et al. · Molecular Metabolism · 2018

Why this rating

Supported by multiple human cohort studies and animal models cited in the review.

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

narrative_reviewCited 353×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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