Research

Energy balance

Maternal prenatal macronutrient and energy intakes are not strongly associated with offspring fat mass or lean mass at ages 9-11.

While maternal diet during pregnancy may influence a child's future food preferences, it does not appear to directly determine the child's fat or lean mass at age 10. This suggests that postnatal lifestyle and environment play a crucial role in body composition.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Maternal diet during pregnancy was not associated with offspring adiposity or lean mass.
Marie‐Jo Brion et al. · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · 2010

Why this rating

Large prospective cohort with objective body composition measurements (DXA).

Source

Maternal macronutrient and energy intakes in pregnancy and offspring intake at 10 y: exploring parental comparisons and prenatal effects

Marie‐Jo Brion et al. · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · 2010

DOI 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28623

cohort · n=5717Cited 175×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →