Obesity is generally associated with high intake of junk foods rich in energy, fat, sugar and salt combined with a dysfunctional control of appetite and lack of exercise. There is some evidence to suggest that appetite and body mass can be influenced by maternal food intake during the fetal and suckling life of an individual. However, the influence of a maternal junk food diet during pregnancy and lactation on the feeding behaviour and weight gain of the offspring remains largely uncharacterised. In this study, six groups of rats were fed either rodent chow alone or with a junk food diet during gestation, lactation and/or post-weaning. The daily food intakes and body mass were measured in forty-two pregnant and lactating mothers as well as in 216 offspring from weaning up to 10 weeks of age. Results showed that 10 week-old rats born to mothers fed the junk food diet during gestation and lactation developed an exacerbated preference for fatty, sugary and salty foods at the expense of protein-rich foods when compared with offspring fed a balanced chow diet prior to weaning or during lactation alone. Male and female offspring exposed to the junk food diet throughout the study also exhibited increased body weight and BMI compared with all other offspring. This study shows that a maternal junk food diet during pregnancy and lactation may be an important contributing factor in the development of obesity.

Maternal malnutrition can influence muscle force production in offspring which may affect an individual's ability to exercise and thereby combat obesity.

SUMMARY Larval muscle development in Atlantic salmon is known to be affected by temperature; however, the long term effects and possible mechanisms involved are less well understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of egg incubation temperature on post-hatch muscle growth and fish activity. Salmon eggs were incubated at either 10°C or 5°C from fertilization until hatching, then subsequently both groups were reared at 5°C. Fish from both groups were sampled at the eyed stage, 6 and 21 weeks after first feeding, for muscle cellularity analysis and immunocytochemistry. In addition,to try to establish a mechanism for altered growth, the activity of the fish was measured at 3, 6 and 21 weeks after first feeding. Our results demonstrate that whereas fish incubated at 10°C grow faster, the fish incubated at 5°C show a more sustained period of muscle growth and by 21 weeks are significantly longer, heavier and have more muscle fibres than those fish incubated at a higher temperature. We also demonstrate that fish raised at 5°C show increased food seeking activity throughout development and that this may explain their sustained growth and muscle development. These results taken together, demonstrate that egg incubation temperature up to hatching in salmon is critical for longer term muscle growth, twinned with increased activity. This is of interest to the aquaculture industry in term of the production of good quality fish protein.