Prenatal and Nutritional Influences on Skeletal Development: Lessons from Animal Studies

Abstract

It is now well established that the onset of adult diseases such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and hypertension are linked to an adverse uterine growth environment, in particular through maternal nutrition, during development of the individual. The geographical distribution of the incidence rate of heart disease is similar to that of osteoporosis. This may indicate a link between maternal nutrition during pregnancy and the subsequent risk of developing osteoporosis in the offspring. This review summarises what we know to date, from animal models, about maternal nutrition and the subsequent alterations in the offspring's skeletal structure.