Maternal investment, life-history strategy of the offspring and adult chronic disease risk in South Asian women in the UK

Wells, Jonathan C. K.; Yao, Pallas; Williams, Jane; Gayner, Rebecca

doi:10.1093/emph/eow011

Cited by 32 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Once again, the best response is to 413 shunt energy towards reproduction, in order to maximise reproductive fitness before 414 mortality occurs. 92 This hypothesis is supported by a study of South Asian women living in 415 the UK. Those with low birth weight (indicating low maternal investment during early 'critical 416 periods') showed faster maturation, shorter adult height, higher adiposity and higher blood 417 pressure (Figure 7).…”

Section: Figure 6 Near Here 407mentioning

confidence: 89%

Body composition and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes: an evolutionary perspective

Wells

2017

Eur J Clin Nutr

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1Type 2 diabetes is rapidly increasing in prevalence worldwide, in concert with epidemics of 2 obesity and sedentary behaviour that are themselves tracking economic development. 3Within this broad pattern, susceptibility to diabetes varies substantially in association with 4 ethnicity and nutritional exposures through the life-course. An evolutionary perspective may 5 help understand why humans are so prone to this condition in modern environments, and 6 why this risk is unequally distributed. A simple conceptual model treats diabetes risk as the 7 function of two interacting traits, namely 'metabolic capacity' which promotes glucose 8 homeostasis, and 'metabolic load' which challenges glucose homoeostasis. This conceptual 9 model helps understand how long-term and more recent trends in body composition can 10 then be considered to have shaped variability in diabetes risk. Hominin evolution appears to 11 have continued a broader trend evident in primates, towards lower levels of muscularity. In 12 addition, hominins developed higher levels of body fatness, especially in females in relative 13 terms. These traits most likely evolved as part of a broader reorganisation of human life 14 history traits in response to growing levels of ecological instability, enabling both survival 15 during tough periods and reproduction during bountiful periods. Since the emergence of 16Homo sapiens, populations have diverged in body composition in association with 17 geographical setting and local ecological stresses. These long-term trends in both metabolic 18 capacity and adiposity help explain the overall susceptibility of humans to diabetes in ways 19 that are similar to, and exacerbated by, the effects of nutritional exposures during the life-20 course. 21

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Section: Figure 6 Near Here 407mentioning

confidence: 89%

Body composition and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes: an evolutionary perspective

Wells

2017

Eur J Clin Nutr

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“…More recent work has demonstrated how low levels of maternal capital impact not only somatic growth itself, but also the entire developmental schedule of the offspring. In South Asian women born in the UK, low birth weight (a proxy for lower maternal investment) was associated with a suite of traits in the daughters, including short adult height, earlier menarche, higher body fatness, and higher blood pressure ( Figure 5) (Wells, Yao, Williams, & Gayner, 2016b). These data indicate that female offspring receiving lower maternal investment adopt a faster life history strategy, prioritizing reproduction at the expense of maintenance and growth.…”

Section: A D a P T A T I O N T O M A T E R N A L C Apit A Lmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…In South Asian women born in the UK, low birth weight (a proxy for lower maternal investment) was associated with a suite of traits in the daughters, including short adult height, earlier menarche, higher body fatness, and higher blood pressure ( Figure 5) (Wells, Yao, Williams, & Gayner, 2016b). In South Asian women born in the UK, low birth weight (a proxy for lower maternal investment) was associated with a suite of traits in the daughters, including short adult height, earlier menarche, higher body fatness, and higher blood pressure ( Figure 5) (Wells, Yao, Williams, & Gayner, 2016b).…”

Section: A D a P T A T I O N T O M A T E R N A L C Apit A Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worldwide variability in growth and its association with health: Incorporating body composition, developmental plasticity, and intergenerational effects

Wells

2017

American J Hum Biol

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In their seminal book "Worldwide variation in human growth," published in 1976, Eveleth and Tanner highlighted substantial variability within and between populations in the magnitude and schedule of human growth. In the four decades since then, research has clarified why growth variability is so closely associated with human health. First, growth patterns are strongly associated with body composition, both in the short- and long-term. Poor growth in early life constrains the acquisition of lean tissue, while compensatory "catch-up" growth may elevate body fatness. Second, these data are examples of the fundamental link between growth and developmental plasticity. Growth is highly sensitive to ecological stresses and stimuli during early "critical windows," but loses much of this sensitivity as it undergoes canalization during early childhood. Crucially, the primary source of stimuli during early "critical windows" is not the external environment itself, but rather maternal phenotype, which transduces the impact of ecological conditions. Maternal phenotype, representing many dimensions of "capital," thus generates a powerful impact on the developmental trajectory of the offspring. There is increasing evidence that low levels of maternal capital impact the offspring's size at birth, schedule of maturation, and body composition and physiological function in adulthood. While evidence has accrued of substantial heritability in adult height, it is clear that the pathway through which it is attained has major implications for metabolic phenotype. Integrating these perspectives is important for understanding how developmental plasticity may on the one hand contribute to adaptation, while on the other shape susceptibility to non-communicable disease.

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“…The classical thrifty gene (23) and thrifty phenotype (25) hypotheses are obesity centred. There are alternative hypotheses based on behavioural and reproductive strategies or life-history strategies (26)(27)(28) which are not obesity centred, although they might allow a correlation with obesity. In these hypotheses, physical strength, social ranking and thereby reproductive opportunities play a more important role than obesity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multidimensional functional fitness score is a stronger predictor of type 2 diabetes than obesity parameters in cross sectional data

Patil

Lalwani

Vidwans³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Objective: We examine here whether multidimensional functional fitness is a better predictor of type 2 diabetes as compared to morphometric indices of obesity such as body mass index (BMI) and waist to hip ratio (WHR).Research design and method: We analysed retrospective data of 663 volunteer participants (285 males and 378 females between age 28 and 84), from an exercise clinic in which every participant routinely undergoes a health related physical fitness (HRPF) assessment consisting of 15 different tasks examining 8 different aspects of functional fitness.Results: The odds of being diabetic in the highest quartile of BMI were not significantly higher than that in the lowest quartile in either of the sexes. The odds of being a diabetic in the highest WHR quartile were significantly greater than the lowest quartile in females (OR = 4.54 (1.95, 10.61) as well as in males (OR = 3.81 (1.75, 8.3). In both sexes the odds of being a diabetic were significantly greater in the lowest quartile of HRPF score than the highest (males OR = 10.52 (4.21, 26.13); females OR = 10.50 (3.53, 31.35)). HRPF was not correlated with BMI in both sexes but was negatively correlated with WHR. After removing confounding, the predictive power of HRPF was significantly greater than that of WHR.Conclusion: Multidimensional functional fitness score was a better predictor of type 2 diabetes than obesity parameters in the Indian population.

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Maternal investment, life-history strategy of the offspring and adult chronic disease risk in South Asian women in the UK

Cited by 32 publications

References 55 publications

Body composition and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes: an evolutionary perspective

Body composition and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes: an evolutionary perspective

Worldwide variability in growth and its association with health: Incorporating body composition, developmental plasticity, and intergenerational effects

A multidimensional functional fitness score is a stronger predictor of type 2 diabetes than obesity parameters in cross sectional data

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