Maternal age is related to offspring DNA methylation: A meta-analysis of results from the PACE consortium.

Worldwide trends to delay childbearing have increased parental ages at birth. Older parental age may harm offspring health, but mechanisms remain unclear. Alterations in offspring DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns could play a role as aging has been associated with methylation changes in gametes of older individuals.

Body Composition and Cardiometabolic Risk Markers in Children of Women who Took Part in a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Preconceptional Nutritional Intervention in Mumbai, India.

Background: Maternal nutrition influences fetal development and may permanently alter ("program") offspring body composition and metabolism, thereby influencing later risk of diabetes and cardiovascular (cardiometabolic) disease. The prevalence of cardiometabolic disease is rising rapidly in India.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that supplementing low-income Indian women with micronutrient-rich foods preconceptionally and during pregnancy has a beneficial impact on the children's body composition and cardiometabolic risk marker profiles.

Outdoor Physical Activity in an Air Polluted Environment and Its Effect on the Cardiovascular System-A Systematic Review.

Air pollution is a global public health threat. Evidence suggests that increased air pollution leads to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The aim of this review was to systematically review and synthesize scientific evidence to understand the effect of performing outdoor physical activity (PA) in a polluted environment on cardiovascular outcomes.

Babies of South Asian and European Ancestry Show Similar Associations With Genetic Risk Score for Birth Weight Despite the Smaller Size of South Asian Newborns.

Size at birth is known to be influenced by various fetal and maternal factors, including genetic effects. South Asians have a high burden of low birth weight and cardiometabolic diseases, yet studies of common genetic variations underpinning these phenotypes are lacking. We generated independent, weighted fetal genetic scores (fGSs) and maternal genetic scores (mGSs) from 196 birth weight-associated variants identified in Europeans and conducted an association analysis with various fetal birth parameters and anthropometric and cardiometabolic traits measured at different follow-up stages (5-6-year intervals) from seven Indian and Bangladeshi cohorts of South Asian ancestry.

Body Composition and Cardiometabolic Risk Markers in Children of Women who Took Part in a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Preconceptional Nutritional Intervention in Mumbai, India.

Background: Maternal nutrition influences fetal development and may permanently alter ("program") offspring body composition and metabolism, thereby influencing later risk of diabetes and cardiovascular (cardiometabolic) disease. The prevalence of cardiometabolic disease is rising rapidly in India.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that supplementing low-income Indian women with micronutrient-rich foods preconceptionally and during pregnancy has a beneficial impact on the children's body composition and cardiometabolic risk marker profiles.

DNA methylation signatures associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in children from India and The Gambia: results from the EMPHASIS study.

Background: The prevalence of cardiometabolic disease (CMD) is rising globally, with environmentally induced epigenetic changes suggested to play a role. Few studies have investigated epigenetic associations with CMD risk factors in children from low- and middle-income countries. We sought to identify associations between DNA methylation (DNAm) and CMD risk factors in children from India and The Gambia.

Effect of maternal preconceptional and pregnancy micronutrient interventions on children's DNA methylation: Findings from the EMPHASIS study.

Background: Maternal nutrition in pregnancy has been linked to offspring health in early and later life, with changes to DNA methylation (DNAm) proposed as a mediating mechanism.

Objective: We investigated intervention-associated DNAm changes in children whose mothers participated in 2 randomized controlled trials of micronutrient supplementation before and during pregnancy, as part of the EMPHASIS (Epigenetic Mechanisms linking Preconceptional nutrition and Health Assessed in India and sub-Saharan Africa) study (ISRCTN14266771).

Design: We conducted epigenome-wide association studies with blood samples from Indian (n = 698) and Gambian (n = 293) children using the Illumina EPIC array and a targeted study of selected loci not on the array.

Conflicts between adolescents and their caregivers living in slums of Mumbai, India in relation to junk food consumption and physical activity.

Objective: To explore influences on the diet and physical activity of adolescents living in Mumbai slums, from the perspectives of adolescents and their caregivers.

Design: Three investigators from Mumbai conducted six focus group discussions.

Setting: The study was conducted in suburban Mumbai slums.

How Do Fruit and Vegetable Markets Operate in Rural India? A Qualitative Study of the Impact of Supply and Demand on Nutrition Security.

Background: Diets in rural India are cereal based with low intakes of micronutrient-rich foods. The value chains for nutrition approach aims to study supply and demand of such foods. This may aid in development of interventions to improve diets and livelihoods.

Dietary micronutrient intakes among women of reproductive age in Mumbai slums.

Objectives: To (1) describe micronutrient intakes among women of reproductive age living in Mumbai slums; (2) assess the adequacy of these intakes compared with reference values; (3) identify important dietary sources of micronutrients.

Subjects/methods: Participants were 6426 non-pregnant women aged 16-39 years, registered in a randomised controlled trial of a food-based intervention set in the Bandra, Khar and Andheri areas of Mumbai, India. Cross-sectional quantified food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) data were collected.

Barriers and Facilitators to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Rural Indian Women of Reproductive Age.

Background: Micronutrient deficiencies have been a serious public health problem among women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries including India, adversely affecting maternal and child health and human capital outcomes. Fruit and vegetables are important sources of micronutrients, and consumption of these foods is less than recommendations.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to fruit and vegetable consumption among women of reproductive age living in rural communities in the State of Maharashtra, India.

The Association of Maternal Age With Fetal Growth and Newborn Measures: The Mumbai Maternal Nutrition Project (MMNP).

Background: Young maternal age is associated with poorer birth outcomes, but the mechanisms are incompletely understood. Using data from a prospective cohort of pregnant women living in Mumbai slums, India, we tested whether lower maternal age was associated with adverse fetal growth.

Methods: Fetal crown-rump length (CRL) was recorded at a median (interquartile range, IQR) of 10 weeks' gestation (9-10 weeks).

Effect of a daily snack containing green leafy vegetables on women's fatty acid status: a randomized controlled trial in Mumbai, India.

Background And Objectives: There are few data on the fatty acid status of non-pregnant Indian women. Our objective was to investigate the effect of a snack containing green leafy vegetables (GLVs) on women's erythrocyte long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid status (LCPUFA).

Methods And Study Design: Non-pregnant women (n=222) aged 14-35 years from Mumbai slums were randomized to consume a snack containing GLVs, fruit and milk (treatment) or a control snack containing foods of low micronutrient content such as potato and onion, daily under observation.

Life course programming of stress responses in adolescents and young adults in India: Protocol of the Stress Responses in Adolescence and Vulnerability to Adult Non-communicable disease (SRAVANA) Study.

Early life nutrition may affect individuals' susceptibility to adult non-communicable diseases (NCD). Psychological stress is a well-recognised NCD risk factor. Recent evidence suggests that impaired foetal nutrition alters neuro-endocrine pathways, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis feedback systems, resulting in abnormal stress responses, and NCD risk.

Healthcare choices in Mumbai slums: A cross-sectional study.

Informal urban settlements, known as slums, are the home for a large proportion of the world population. Healthcare in these environments is extremely complex, driven by poverty, environmental challenges, and poor access to formal health infrastructures. This study investigated healthcare challenges faced and choices made by slum dwellers in Mumbai, India.

Protocol for the EMPHASIS study; epigenetic mechanisms linking maternal pre-conceptional nutrition and children's health in India and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Animal studies have shown that nutritional exposures during pregnancy can modify epigenetic marks regulating fetal development and susceptibility to later disease, providing a plausible mechanism to explain the developmental origins of health and disease. Human observational studies have shown that maternal peri-conceptional diet predicts DNA methylation in offspring. However, a causal pathway from maternal diet, through changes in DNA methylation, to later health outcomes has yet to be established.

GWAS identifies population-specific new regulatory variants in FUT6 associated with plasma B12 concentrations in Indians.

Vitamin B12 is an important cofactor in one-carbon metabolism whose dysregulation is associated with various clinical conditions. Indians have a high prevalence of B12 deficiency but little is known about the genetic determinants of circulating B12 concentrations in Indians. We performed a genome-wide association study in 1001 healthy participants in the Pune Maternal Nutrition Study (PMNS), replication studies in 3418 individuals from other Indian cohorts and by meta-analysis identified new variants, rs3760775 (P = 1.

Effect of a micronutrient-rich snack taken preconceptionally and throughout pregnancy on ultrasound measures of fetal growth: The Mumbai Maternal Nutrition Project (MMNP).

Improving micronutrient intakes of under-nourished mothers in low- and middle-income countries increases birth weight, but there is little data on the nature and timing during gestation of any effects on fetal growth. Ultrasound measures of fetal size were used to determine whether and when a food-based supplement affected fetal growth. Non-pregnant women living in Mumbai slums, India (N = 6,513), were randomly assigned to receive either a daily micronutrient-rich snack containing green leafy vegetables, fruit, and milk (treatment) or a snack made from lower-micronutrient vegetables (control) in addition to their usual diet from before pregnancy until delivery.

A Daily Snack Containing Leafy Green Vegetables, Fruit, and Milk before and during Pregnancy Prevents Gestational Diabetes in a Randomized, Controlled Trial in Mumbai, India.

Background: Prospective observational studies suggest that maternal diets rich in leafy green vegetables and fruit may help prevent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Objective: Our objective was to test whether increasing women's dietary intake of leafy green vegetables, fruit, and milk before conception and throughout pregnancy reduced their risk of GDM.

Methods: Project SARAS ("excellent") (2006-2012) was a nonblinded, individually randomized, controlled trial in women living in slums in the city of Mumbai, India.

Effects of a food-based intervention on markers of micronutrient status among Indian women of low socio-economic status.

Intakes of micronutrient-rich foods are low among Indian women of reproductive age. We investigated whether consumption of a food-based micronutrient-rich snack increased markers of blood micronutrient concentrations when compared with a control snack. Non-pregnant women (n 222) aged 14-35 years living in a Mumbai slum were randomised to receive a treatment snack (containing green leafy vegetables, dried fruit and whole milk powder), or a control snack containing foods of low micronutrient content such as wheat flour, potato and tapioca.

Improving women's diet quality preconceptionally and during gestation: effects on birth weight and prevalence of low birth weight--a randomized controlled efficacy trial in India (Mumbai Maternal Nutrition Project).

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is an important public health problem in undernourished populations.

Objective: We tested whether improving women's dietary micronutrient quality before conception and throughout pregnancy increases birth weight in a high-risk Indian population.

Design: The study was a nonblinded, individually randomized controlled trial.

Reporting of participant compliance in randomized controlled trials of nutrition supplements during pregnancy.

Randomized controlled trials (RCT) are widely considered to be the gold standard for demonstrating intervention effects. Adequacy of reporting of participant compliance in RCTs affects the interpretation of study results. Our aims were two-fold: first, to assess the adequacy of reporting of participant compliance in RCTs investigating the effect of maternal nutritional supplements on infant outcomes; and second, to examine authors' adherence to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines on participant flow.