News & Updates

A receptor on liver cells may play a key role in fat accumulation in the liver and obesity-related disorders.

Weight gain in first trimester linked with fetal fat gain. Findings may have implications for preventing early life forerunner of later life obesity.

Read about select research advances supported by NICHD in 2024, including work on women’s health, child and adolescent health, medical rehabilitation, health disparities, and more.

Infants who were formula fed, introduced to solid food early, and fed by caregivers who watched television while feeding them were at risk for rapid weight gain in early life.

The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.

High levels of some forever chemicals in pregnancy could lead to midlife obesity, a study suggests.

Kids who begin drinking juice before 6 months of age have higher blood pressure and other signs of cardiac risk by middle childhood than kids who begin drinking juice after 12 months of age.

The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.

Children testing higher social anxiety may be at greater risk for overeating and weight gain after being socially excluded by their peers. The findings suggest that efforts to reduce obesity in children may need to consider social stresses, such as ostracism.

The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2022.

What defines eating for health? Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all healthy diet. The emerging field of precision nutrition aims to deliver personalized dietary recommendations to optimize health and quality of life based on an individual’s genetics, gut microbes, and other biological, lifestyle, environmental, and social factors.

The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.

Giving the hormone adiponectin to pregnant mice with obesity prevented later life obesity and related health conditions in their offspring, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings suggest that adiponectin, a hormone produced by fat cells, could play a role in reducing the lifelong obesity risk of children born to mothers with obesity during pregnancy.

Maternal obesity before pregnancy may increase the risk of asthma in early childhood, suggests a study by the National Institutes of Health. Children born to mothers with obesity were more likely than those born to mothers without obesity to have persistent wheezing, an indication of asthma.

Children who were first given juice before they were six months old were more likely to have overweight or obesity in early and mid-childhood, compared to kids who were given juice at one year old or later, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The finding provides additional support for a theory that giving young children sweet foods or drinks may foster a preference for sweet tastes that can lead to weight gain later in childhood.

A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health contradicts the current recommendation that women with obesity should lose weight before trying to conceive. The study of more than 300 women with obesity found no difference in the proportion of live births among women with unexplained infertility who lost weight before infertility treatment and a similar group who did not lose weight before treatment.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2021.

Children who were given juice before they were 6 months old drank more juice and soda, and less water, by early and mid-childhood, on average, than children first given juice at or after 12 months, according to a study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The findings support a theory that giving children sweet foods and drinks at an early age fosters a preference for sweet tastes that persists into childhood, increasing the risk for childhood weight gain and tooth cavities.

NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi is joined by NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health Director Dr. Janine Clayton in assessing the growing maternal health crisis in the United States and describing NIH’s efforts to address it.