Doctoral Dissertation Research: Prenatal and postnatal correlates of infant growth and development

越来越多的生物人类学和相关学科的研究表明，一个人早期的生活环境可以对他们的生理和福祉产生长期影响。这一博士论文项目将调查在婴儿、儿童和成人肥胖率较高且不断上升的人群中，产妇营养和母乳喂养持续时间是否与婴儿从出生到四个月大期间的脂肪数量和分布有关。某些脂肪分布被认为与肥胖风险有关，这项基础研究将对描述婴儿生长发育的差异以及与其他人群的数据进行比较具有重要意义。这项研究将有助于我们更广泛地了解人类的生物变异和适应，以及现代人类生活史的演变，并可能为全球肥胖流行的公共卫生研究提供信息。该项目将为来自美国的研究生和本科生提供STEM领域的研究培训和科学教育，并在研究地点建立研究能力和合作。研究人员将使用纵向设计收集关于萨摩亚婴儿从出生到四个月大的婴儿尺寸和肥胖的数据，使用“黄金标准”双X射线吸收法(DEXA)技术。DEXA的使用将允许测量体内总脂肪和体内脂肪分布。她将测试怀孕期间的孕妇营养和母乳喂养持续时间是否与婴儿出生时和四个月时的脂肪含量以及脂肪分布的身体区域有关。器官周围储存的脂肪较多，直接储存在皮肤下的脂肪较少，这被认为会增加成年人患心血管疾病的风险。这个项目中产生的数据可能会为未来的干预措施的设计提供信息，这些干预措施的目标是尽早预防肥胖。此外，该项目的发现将有助于理解早期生活中的脂肪增长如何随人口历史和当前人口面临的环境压力(例如，高致病环境和高热量、低营养环境)而变化，并将与所有人类人口相关。

A growing body of research in biological anthropology and related disciplines indicates that an individual's early life environment can have long-term effects on their physiology and well-being. This doctoral dissertation project will investigate whether maternal nutrition and breastfeeding duration are associated with the amount and distribution of fat that infants have between birth and four months of age, in a population with high and rising rates of infant, child, and adult obesity. Certain fat distributions are thought to be related to the risk of obesity, and this fundamental research will be important in characterizing variation in infant growth and development and for comparisons with data from other populations. The research will contribute to our broader understanding of human biological variation and adaptations, and the evolution of modern human life history, and could inform public health research on the global obesity epidemic. The project will provide research training and scientific education in a STEM field to graduate and undergraduate students from the U.S., and build both research capacity and collaborations at the research site.The investigator will use a longitudinal design to collect data on infant size and fatness in Samoan infants, as they grow from birth to four months of age, using the "gold standard" dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) technique. The use of DEXA will allow for measurement of both total body fat and body fat distribution. She will test whether maternal nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding duration are associated with how much fat infants have at birth and four months, as well as the body regions where fat is distributed. Greater fat stored around the organs and less fat directly stored under the skin is thought to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease in adults. The data generated in this project may inform the design of future interventions that target the prevention of obesity at the earliest point. In addition, findings from this project will contribute to the understanding of how fat growth in early life varies by population history and the current environmental stresses a population faces (e.g., highly pathogenic environments and highly caloric, low nutritional environments), and will be relevant to all human populations.