Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, USA.
Am J Primatol. 2010 Mar;72(3):234-41. doi: 10.1002/ajp.20772.
The dramatic increase in obesity in western societies has shifted the emphasis in nutrition research from the problems of undernutrition to the adverse consequences of being overweight. As with humans, Old World monkeys are at increased risk for type II diabetes and other chronic diseases when they gain excessive weight. To prevent overweight and obesity, promote animal health, and provide a more natural level of fiber in the diet, the standard commercial monkey chow diet at a vervet monkey breeding colony was changed to a higher fiber formulation in 2004. The new diet was also higher in protein and lower in carbohydrate and energy density than the standard diet. Because maternal behavior is known to be sensitive to differences in resource availability, data on weight and mother-infant interactions for 147 mothers with 279 infants born from 2000 through 2006 were assessed for effects of the diet change. The results showed that, even though food was provided ad libitum, the mean body weight of breeding females was 10% lower after the transition to the high-fiber diet. Behaviorally, mothers on the high-fiber diet were significantly more rejecting to their infants, and their infants had to play a greater role in maintaining ventral contact in the first few months of their lives. The effects of the diet change on maternal rejection were significantly related to the mother's body weight, with lower-weight mothers scoring higher in maternal rejection. These results demonstrate that maternal behavior is responsive to changes in maternal condition, and that beneficial changes in the diet may have unintended consequences on behavior.
在西方社会，肥胖症的急剧增加使得营养研究的重点从营养不足问题转移到了超重的不良后果上。与人类一样，当旧大陆猴体重增加时，它们患 II 型糖尿病和其他慢性疾病的风险也会增加。为了预防超重和肥胖，促进动物健康，并在饮食中提供更天然的纤维水平，2004 年，一个长尾猕猴繁殖群体将标准的商业猕猴饲料从低纤维配方改为高纤维配方。与标准饮食相比，新饮食的蛋白质含量更高，碳水化合物和能量密度更低。由于众所周知，母性行为对资源可用性的差异很敏感，因此评估了 2000 年至 2006 年期间 147 位母亲及其 279 位婴儿的数据，以了解饮食变化对体重和母婴互动的影响。结果表明，即使食物是自由提供的，在过渡到高纤维饮食后，繁殖雌性的平均体重仍降低了 10%。行为上，高纤维饮食的母亲对婴儿的拒绝程度明显更高，而且它们的婴儿在生命的头几个月必须发挥更大的作用来维持腹部接触。饮食变化对母亲拒绝的影响与母亲的体重显著相关，体重较轻的母亲在母亲拒绝方面的得分更高。这些结果表明，母性行为对母体状况的变化有反应，而饮食的有益变化可能会对行为产生意想不到的后果。
