Lifestyle intervention from childhood to adolescence affects metabolism even years later. The study is one of the first to demonstrate how beneficial changes in diet and physical activity in childhood can affect the body’s metabolism even in the long term
https://www.uef.fi/en/article/lifestyle-intervention-from-childhood-to-adolescence-affects-metabolism-even-years-later
1 Comment
A new study from the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) uncovers how early lifestyle changes can have long-lasting impacts. A diet and physical activity intervention in childhood and adolescence was found to profoundly influence metabolism even years later.
The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study is the first lifestyle intervention study using advanced liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics technology to analyse molecular mechanisms underlying the health effects of lifestyle changes from childhood to adolescence. By analysing blood samples, the researchers were able to identify changes in 80 metabolites. “These were metabolites linked to critical processes for the development of cardiometabolic diseases, such as lipid metabolism, inflammation, and gut health,” says Postdoctoral Researcher Iman Zarei.
What makes the findings particularly important is that 17 of these metabolites remained altered even after eight years, although the most intensive part of the lifestyle intervention only lasted for the first two years. This suggests that an early intervention might not just have immediate benefits but also longer-lasting health effects. Some of the most notable changes were in fatty amides, molecules involved in a variety of physiological functions such as inflammation, weight control, eating behaviour, sleep induction, pain and anxiety control, angiogenesis, arterial dilation and neuroprotection.
[https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(24)01520-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2589004224015207%3Fshowall%3Dtrue](https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(24)01520-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2589004224015207%3Fshowall%3Dtrue)