The rising prevalence of obesity, cardiometabolic disease, asthma, osteoporosis and neurodevelopmental disorders over recent decades cannot be fully explained by genetic or adult lifestyle factors. Increasing evidence suggests that early life exposures influence health throughout life. Maternal diet during pregnancy is a critical yet modifiable exposure, however the specific dietary requirements for optimal fetal growth and development are unknown. Furthermore studies of maternal diet tend, for the sake of simplicity, to focus on single nutrients. Nutrients, however, are not consumed in isolation so conclusions from these studies are limited. A continuing mystery is how early life exposures are able to affect health years later in spite of dramatic lifestyle changes in adulthood.

This project aims to advance the state-of-the-art by examining the combined health effects of multiple dietary components reflecting the whole diet and evaluating the potential of DNA methylation as a means by which the influence of early dietary exposures are maintained into old age. Utilising biological samples and data from existing European longitudinal birth cohorts such as ALSPAC, we will investigate the complex relationships between maternal diet (defined by dietary quality and a novel index of dietary inflammatory potential), offspring health outcomes (including adiposity, bone, cardiometabolic, respiratory and neurodevelopmental health) and DNA methylation patterns from birth to adulthood. We hope that these investigations will identify opportunities to refine dietary recommendations and to aid development of more effective evidence-based public health strategies to reduce obesity, improve health and attenuate development of a range of adverse health outcomes in future generations.