Doctoral Dissertation Research: Prenatal and postnatal correlates of infant growth and development

博士论文研究：婴儿生长发育的产前和产后相关性

• 批准号: 1749911
• 负责人: Claudia Valeggia
• 金额: $ 2.23万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-02-15 至 2019-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1749911&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Prenatal; postnatal

A growing body of research in biological anthropology and related disciplines indicates that an individual's early life environment can have long-term effects on their physiology and well-being. This doctoral dissertation project will investigate whether maternal nutrition and breastfeeding duration are associated with the amount and distribution of fat that infants have between birth and four months of age, in a population with high and rising rates of infant, child, and adult obesity. Certain fat distributions are thought to be related to the risk of obesity, and this fundamental research will be important in characterizing variation in infant growth and development and for comparisons with data from other populations. The research will contribute to our broader understanding of human biological variation and adaptations, and the evolution of modern human life history, and could inform public health research on the global obesity epidemic. The project will provide research training and scientific education in a STEM field to graduate and undergraduate students from the U.S., and build both research capacity and collaborations at the research site.The investigator will use a longitudinal design to collect data on infant size and fatness in Samoan infants, as they grow from birth to four months of age, using the "gold standard" dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) technique. The use of DEXA will allow for measurement of both total body fat and body fat distribution. She will test whether maternal nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding duration are associated with how much fat infants have at birth and four months, as well as the body regions where fat is distributed. Greater fat stored around the organs and less fat directly stored under the skin is thought to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease in adults. The data generated in this project may inform the design of future interventions that target the prevention of obesity at the earliest point. In addition, findings from this project will contribute to the understanding of how fat growth in early life varies by population history and the current environmental stresses a population faces (e.g., highly pathogenic environments and highly caloric, low nutritional environments), and will be relevant to all human populations.

生物人类学和相关学科的越来越多的研究表明，个人的早期生活环境可以对其生理和福祉产生长期影响。该博士学位论文项目将研究产妇营养和母乳喂养持续时间是否与婴儿，儿童和成人肥胖症患病率高和增加的人群中婴儿之间的脂肪数量和分布有关。某些脂肪分布被认为与肥胖风险有关，这项基本研究对于表征婴儿生长和发育的变化以及与其他人群的数据进行比较至关重要。这项研究将有助于我们对人类生物学变异和适应的广泛理解，以及现代人类生活史的演变，并可以为全球肥胖流行的公共卫生研究提供信息。该项目将在STEM领域提供研究培训和科学教育，以毕业和本科生，并在研究站点上建立研究能力和合作。研究人员将使用纵向设计来收集萨摩亚婴儿的婴儿大小和胖子的数据，因为它们从出生到四个月的年龄，使用“金标准” Diual X-Ray Prosorptiement（Dexa）（Dexa）来收集他们从出生到四个月的年龄。 DEXA的使用将允许测量体内脂肪和体内脂肪的分布。她将测试怀孕期间和母乳喂养持续时间是否与婴儿在出生和四个月以及分布脂肪的身体区域的脂肪中是否相关。储存在器官周围的脂肪更大，而直接储存在皮肤下的脂肪却更少会增加成人心血管疾病的风险。该项目中产生的数据可能会为最早针对预防肥胖症的未来干预措施的设计提供信息。此外，该项目的发现将有助于理解早期生活中的脂肪生长如何随人口历史以及当前人口面临的当前环境压力而变化（例如，高度致病的环境和高热量，低营养的营养环境），并将与所有人类人群相关。