Metabolic Effects of Birth Weight on Overweight and Obese Chinese Adults and Their Responses to Weight Loss

There is an exponential rise in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and obesity in Singapore coincident with rapid nutritional and socioeconomic transition. Differing birth weights, even in the normal ranges, predisposes individuals to the risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity. We aim to examine the causal pathways, developmental contribution and effects of a weight loss intervention to this differential by evaluating the hypothesis that genomic, birth weight, developmental, lifestyle and environmental factors contribute to the variation in phenotype observed in adults with obesity and metabolic syndrome. Although there are many large studies that examined the effect of birth weight on the expression of obesity and the metabolic syndrome phenotype, most of these studies usually lack in-depth physiological and epigenetic/genomic studies due to their large sample sizes. We therefore aim to explore such detailed aspects of physiological and epigenetic/genomic profiles on smaller but statistically powered samples, focusing on evaluating body composition, nutritional and metabolic phenotype in relationship to epigenetic/genetic markers and developmental history. In addition, we examine the effects of a weight loss intervention on these parameters. This will assist in weighing the importance of developmental and genetic pathways in contributing to individual risk and the response and efficacy to an intervention.