Effect of Mediterranean Diet During Pregnancy on the Onset of Overweight and Obesity in the Offspring

The first 1,000 days of life, from the conception to 24 months, are crucial to achieve long-term health outcomes and represent a strategic period to intervene under prevention and public health perspective. Nutritional exposures during this critical period of life can influence the future disease susceptibility. Maternal diet during pregnancy has been linked to offspring overweight/obesity risk and it could represent a potential target for overweight/obesity prevention. The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is considered one of the healthiest dietary models, which impacts beneficially the gut microbiome (GM), providing high amounts of fiber, antioxidants polyphenols and vitamins, and a balanced ratio of essential fatty acids (ω6:ω3). Notably, the MD beneficial effects are due to the synergistic and interactive combinations of nutrients, and the modulation of gene expression through epigenetic changes. Unofrtunately, the MD mechanisms during pregnancy in the prevention of childhood overweight/obesity are not yet fully known.