Influence of mother nutrition during pregnancy and/or lactation on offspring food preference in experimental models

Abstract Introduction Understanding associations between food preferences and maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation could inform efforts to understanding the obesity mechanisms and provide insight to prevent it. Objective: To identify studies that investigated the effects of nutritional interventions during the pregnancy and lactation on the food preferences of offspring. Method: The review was conducted with search for articles in the databases: Scopus, Pubmed, Medline, LILACS, Scielo and Science Direct. Exclusion criteria were used: reviews, human studies, studies with drugs or other substances not related to food. Results: At the end of the search in the databases, 176 references were found. After use the exclusion criteria, reading the titles, abstracts and full articles, were selected 11 articles to compose the review. Conclusion: The selected studies suggested that unbalanced nutrition in early life alters the food preference and neural components related to the consumption of fatty and sugary foods in offspring rodents.