Maternal Dietary Patterns and Child Weight Status

描述（由申请人提供）：肥胖在发达国家和发展中国家都是一个日益严重的公共卫生问题。截至2010年，估计有4300万儿童肥胖，9200万儿童有超重的风险。2008年，美国近10%的婴幼儿体重超标。预防儿童期肥胖很重要，因为3岁肥胖儿童的成年肥胖风险在男性中为15%，在女性中为24%，并且与近期和长期健康后果以及成人过早死亡的风险增加有关。研究表明，肥胖的起源可能早在胎儿发育期间就开始了，怀孕期间母亲的营养可能对胎儿日后的肥胖发育起着重要作用。这项研究培训计划将为奖学金申请人提供进一步发展理论、分析和研究经验的机会，以研究母体营养在胎儿肥胖起源中的作用，这将作为论文研究的一部分进行研究。本论文的研究目标如下：(1)探讨孕妇孕期饮食模式与胎儿环境中母体营养生物标志物（葡萄糖、胰岛素、瘦素、甘油三酯、总胆固醇）的关系；(2)检验孕妇孕期饮食模式与出生体重z-score的关系；(3)探讨母亲饮食模式与婴儿出生至36月龄体重轨迹的关系。来自妊娠、感染和营养（PIN）研究、产后PIN研究和儿童PIN研究的第三队列数据将用于进行拟议的研究。在研究期间，奖学金申请人将达到以下短期目标：(1)了解肥胖生理学、内分泌学和神经内分泌学在食欲和能量平衡调节中的作用，以及营养在这些过程中的作用；（二）拓展知识和技能，发展和解决重大的、科学相关的研究问题，设计和分析流行病学研究；(3)了解导致妊娠结局和肥胖患病率的种族差异的生物学、社会、环境和行为因素；(4)促进专业和个人发展；(5)了解作为一名独立研究者的期望和环境，以确保顺利通过奖学金并进入早期教师生涯。这些目标将通过与营养和围产期流行病学领域的主要研究人员的互动和合作、参加会议和研讨会以及在营养和流行病学年度会议上发表演讲来实现。此外，该奖学金申请将促进申请人的职业道路，成为一个独立的，跨学科的围产期和儿科流行病学营养方面的研究者。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Obesity is a growing public health concern in developed and developing countries. As of 2010, an estimated 43 million children were obese and 92 million were at risk of becoming overweight. In the US, nearly 10% of infants and toddlers were classified as high weight in 2008. Childhood obesity is important to prevent because the risk of adult obesity for obese children three-years of age is 15% for males and 24% in females, and associated with an increased risk of immediate and long-term health consequences and premature adult mortality. Research studies suggest that the origins of obesity may be as early as during fetal development and maternal nutrition during pregnancy may play a role in programming the fetus for later development of obesity. This research-training plan will provide the fellowship applicant an opportunity to further develop the theoretical, analytical, and research experience needed to investigate the role of maternal nutrition in the fetal origins of obesity, which will be examined as a part of the dissertation research. The dissertation research will address the following specific aims: (1) to explore the association between maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and maternal nutrient biomarkers of fetal environment including glucose, insulin, leptin, triglycerides, and total cholesterol; (2) to examine the relationship between maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and birth weight z-score; and (3) to investigate the association between maternal dietary patterns and child weight trajectory from birth to 36 months. Data from the third cohort of the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition (PIN) study, PIN Postpartum study, and PIN Kids study will be used to conduct the proposed research. During the fellowship period, the fellowship applicant will achieve the following short-term goals: (1) to acquire an appreciation of the physiology of obesity, endocrinology, and neuroendocrinology in regulation of appetite and energy balance, and the role nutrition has in these processes; (2) to expand knowledge and skills to develop and address significant, scientifically relevant research questions and design and analyze epidemiological studies; (3) to understand the biological, social, environmental, and behavioral factors that contribute to racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes and obesity prevalence; (4) to enhance professional and personal development; and (5) to understand the expectations and environment of being an independent investigator to ensure a successful progression through the fellowship and into early faculty years. These goals will be met through interactions and collaborations with leader in researchers in the field of nutritional and perinatal epidemiology, attendance at conferences and seminars, and presentations at annual meetings in nutrition and epidemiology. Additionally, this fellowship application will facilitate the applicant's career pathto becoming an independent, interdisciplinary investigator of the nutritional aspects of perinatal and pediatric epidemiology.