JR Centre for Investigation of Early Life Metabolic Programming regarding Dispositions of Obesity

How is early childhood nutrition - specifically breastfeeding or bottle feeding - related to obesity? The Josef Ressel Centre for Research into Predispositions of Perinatal Metabolic Programming of Obesity is addressing this key question.

According to studies by the World Health Organisation, the global prevalence of obesity has tripled since the 1980s (WHO, 2013). It has risen particularly among children and adolescents. In Austria, it rose from 10 per cent to 16 per cent among girls and from 12 per cent to 17 per cent among boys between 2008 and 2012 (BMG, 2012).

In the first phase of the Josef Ressel Centre, the so-called volume study, infants up to 16 weeks of age are studied with regard to possible overfeeding. Overfeeding of infants is defined either by the amount of food consumed and the associated food components or by the mother's perception of signs of satiety in the child. Infants who receive either breast milk or formula are compared in terms of the volume of food consumed and its influence on weight gain and the percentage of body fat. For this purpose, relevant anthropometric data is collected and body fat measurements are carried out. In addition, a semi-automatic detection of signs of satiety during feeding is carried out. Whether the mother recognises the signs of satiety and reacts adequately or not, in combination with the feeding style and eating behaviour, correlates with the weight of the infants and their risk of becoming obese later in life.

The second phase is dedicated to the investigation of a possible correlation between early nutritional type and the expression of biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. For this reason, macro- and micronutrients as well as adipokines and biomarkers of oxidative stress in breast milk and various other biological samples from mother and child will be analysed. In addition, the intestinal microbiome of mothers and children is analysed.

Together, the results of the volume study and the bioanalytical investigations allow a far-reaching understanding of the phenomenon of metabolic programming in infancy.

The innovation of the research project lies in the focus on the very first phase of life from pregnancy to the second year of life, the so-called first 1000 days, in which the mother-child unit is viewed multidimensionally.