The current global obesity pandemic is clearly linked to both the increasing prevalence of, and preference for, foods high in calories, specifically fat and sucrose, and declining levels of daily physical activity. A less commonly discussed possible explanation is that risk of obesity begins in utero as a result of developmental plasticity during early life. This idea fits into the broader Developmental Origins of Health and Diseases (DOHAD) hypothesis, which holds that stressful in utero exposure manifests as disease in adulthood. In this review, we highlight several studies that have revealed the role of epigenetics in multigenerational transmission of developmentally programmed obesity and associated cardiometabolic disease.

当前的全球肥胖大流行显然与高热量食品（尤其是脂肪和蔗糖）的流行和偏爱以及每日体力活动水平的下降有关。较少被讨论的可能解释是肥胖的风险是由于生命早期发育可塑性而在子宫内开始的。这个想法适合更广泛的健康与疾病的发展起源（DOHAD）假说，该假说认为子宫内暴露的压力表现为成年时期的疾病。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了几项研究，这些研究揭示了表观遗传学在发育性肥胖症和相关心脏代谢疾病的多代传播中的作用。