Project Number: 6251-51000-005-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Oct 01, 2004
End Date: Apr 30, 2009

Objective:
Certain common dietary factors appear to be capable of: 1) affecting growth and development; 2) transiently and permanently altering metabolism; 3) influencing body composition; and 4) preventing some diseases. For example, fruits, vegetables, grains and milk contain natural compounds (phytochemicals, peptides and proteins) that can alter development, physiology and metabolism, which can ultimately lead to disease prevention and phenotypic changes. We will: 1) document which foods and dietary factors can alter body composition either in children or in offspring born to mothers who consume those foods; 2) determine how much of and in what context, these foods are needed to affect body composition; 3) study dietary factors in foods commonly consumed by children, such as fruits, rice, milk, and soy to determine how they may affect calorie balance and diseases associated with energy utilization (such obesity-associated insulin resistance), cardiovascular disease, and breast cancer; 4) identify the biologically active dietary factors and determine their bioavailability, the doses required for specific effects and their mechanisms of action; 5) determine the direct and indirect effects of dietary factors and the interactions of these factors with endogenous signals in human subjects and animal models throughout early life stages and phenotypes. For example, the isoflavones (also called "phytoestrogens") are particularly concentrated in soybeans and can have many of the same actions as the major female hormones in women, the estrogens. Countries with regular consumption of large amounts of soy foods report lower incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and obesity; and factors in soy (isoflavones and peptides) are postulated as being partially responsible. The soy connection to long-term health is important, because one million U.S. infants are fed infant formula containing soy protein each year and the phytoestrogen content in their blood is extremely high. Virtually nothing is known about the actions of these substances in children, nor on the long-term health consequences of this early exposure. Since this affects nearly 25% of America's youngest people, it is essential to ascertain the long-term health consequences, both positive and negative, of early consumption of these phytochemicals. This is just one example of several foods containing different phytochemicals that have potential health effects during development.

Approach:
Studies will focus on the various dietary factors found in foods commonly comsumed by children, such as fruits, rice, milk, and soy to determine their long-term health effects in infants and children. Phytochemicals (such as the isoflavones), proteins and peptides will be studied to determine the possible effects on risk of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and other chronic diseases. For example, evidence suggests that exposure to soy foods early in life will reduce the risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease later in life. Similarly, we suspect that there may be some as yet unrecognized effects related to hormonally sensitive systems that regulate energy metabolism and fat disposition that affect development of obesity, drug efficacy, bone development, and insulin sensitivity. We will conduct laboratory, animal, and clinical studies to test these hypotheses, determine the positive and negative health consequences of maternal body composition and of various foods and dietary factors in maternal diet, infant formula, and children¿s foods, especially as it relates to safety and disease prevention; understand which phytochemicals have health consequences, how much and how often they should be consumed, and at what age they should be eaten; and, whether it is possible to reduce the risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and under what circumstances. This same approach will be utilized for dietary factors in other foods.