The obesity epidemic, including childhood obesity, is rapidly gaining strength as one of the
most significant challenges to the health of the global community in the 21st Century. The
proportion of women who are obese at the beginning of pregnancy is also increasing. These
women and their babies are at high risk of pregnancy complications, and of programming for
metabolic disease in adult life. In particular, maternal obesity is associated with aberrant
fetal growth, encompassing both intrauterine growth restricted and large for gestational age …