Exposure to dams' low-fat high-carbohydrate diet during pregnancy and lactation establishes a preference for fat by their offspring.

To investigate the causes why pups of dams fed a low-fat high-carbohydrate diet (LFD) showed strong preference for fat, two groups of pregnant rats were fed either the LFD or the control-diet (CTD) during pregnancy and lactation. After weaning, pups in both groups were divided into two groups. Two groups were offered a self-selection regimen of either a carbohydrate-protein diet (CPD) or a fat-protein diet (FPD) (the LFD-CF and the CTD-CF groups) and the remaining groups were fed the same diet as their dams (the LFD and the CTD groups) for 5 wk. Although the body weight of pups fed the LFD was lower than that of pups fed the CTD, the body weight of the LFD-CF group caught up with that of the CTD group. The ratio of FPD intake [FPD intake (g)/total intake (g)] by the LFD-CF group was higher than that of the CTD-CF group. In both dams and their pups, although no significant difference in the plasma glucose concentration was observed between the LFD and the CTD groups, the plasma insulin and triacylglycerol (TG) concentrations of the LFD group were higher than those of the CTD group. However, the self-selection diet appeared to prevent an increase in the plasma insulin and TG concentrations. Therefore, it was supposed that although pups of dams fed the LFD showed strong preference for fat in order to achieve optimal growth, the dietary selection pattern after weaning was associated with the depletion in plasma insulin.