Grant: Project Grant

Sugars such as sucrose (table sugar) are extremely common in the diet, in Canada and across the world. The World Health Organization advises that added sugars should make up 5% or less of daily calories for adults, and even less for children under 2 years. However, in Canada, adults and children often greatly exceed these recommendations. Of particular concern, added sugars during early development might have major and long-lasting effects on hormones, neural circuits, and behaviour. This project will use an animal model to experimentally determine how maternal consumption of sucrose during pregnancy and lactation affects the offspring. This project will examine the long-lasting effects on adult offspring, including important hormones, brain chemicals, and behaviours. Overall, this project will help us understand how maternal diet "programs" hormones, the brain reward system, and sugar-seeking behaviour in the offspring. The results will have important implications for the health of Canadians because very little is known about how added sugars affect brain circuits.