A randomized controlled trial (NiPPeR study) conducted by Jaz Lyons-Reid and other researchers has shed light on the potential benefits of nutritional intervention before conception and during pregnancy in curbing childhood obesity. According to the findings, antenatal and preconception supplementation with  probiotics, myo-inositol, and micronutrients were linked to lower obesity risk at age two, possibly due to slower infancy weight gain. The study, published in BMC Medicine, examined the effects of supplementing pregnant women with myo-inositol, probiotics, and additional micronutrients, in comparison with standard micronutrient supplements.

This study incorporated 576 neonates of pregnant females who were randomly assigned to get either a supplement containing probiotics, myo-inositol, and additional micronutrients (intervention group) or a standard micronutrient supplement (control group). From birth to two years of age,  estimation of length and weight were taken. The study evaluated the impact of these supplements on standardized body mass index (BMI) at 2 years, considering various factors such as study site, smoking, sex, maternal parity, gestational age, and pre-pregnancy BMI.

Additionally, alterations in length, weight, weight gain trajectories, and BMI from birth were analyzed using latent class growth assessment. Results from the study revealed promising findings. At the age of 2 years, children whose mothers received the intervention supplements displayed a tendency towards lower mean BMI as opposed to those in the control group (adjusted mean difference of -0.14 standard deviation (SD) [95% CI 0.30, 0.02], p = 0.09), and a lower proportion of them had a BMI exceeding the 95th percentile (9.2% vs 18.0%, adjusted risk ratio [aRR] 0.51 [95% CI 0.31, 0.82], p = 0.006).

As per the longitudinal analysis, the intervention offspring illustrated a 24% diminished risk of rapid gain in weight (> 0.67 SD) in the 1st year of life (21.9% vs 31.1%, aRR 0.76 [95% CI 0.58, 1.00], p = 0.047). Similarly, the risk of sustained weight gain (> 1.34 SD) in the first 2 years of life was decreased in the intervention group (7.7% vs 17.1%, aRR 0.55 [95% CI 0.34, 0.88], p = 0.014). Analysis of weight gain patterns revealed a higher proportion of offspring in the intervention group. This was characterized by constant weight standard deviation scores of around 0 SD from birth to two years (38.8% vs 30.1%, RR 1.29 [95% CI 1.03, 1.62], p = 0.029). These findings suggest that nutritional intervention may contribute to healthier weight development during early childhood.