# PrepareD: Examining post-Delivery maternal-offspring obesity and metabolic risk after a prepregnancy weight-loss intervention

> **NIH NIH R01** · KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2022 · $459,461

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT:
Obesity is a national epidemic that frequently begins in early childhood and is known to be passed from
mothers to their children, but little is known about how to effectively interrupt this multigenerational cycle.
Although the Institute of Medicine recommends that women with obesity lose weight prior to pregnancy, we
know of no data that have examined the effects of intentional pre-pregnancy weight loss on future obesity
risk. The 2011 Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research stressed the need for research on new obesity
prevention and treatment programs, and we responded to this call in 2014 with Prepare, a randomized
controlled trial of a pre-pregnancy weight loss intervention (NIDDK R01DK0099882).
Based on emerging data that the 1st trimester intrauterine environment, determined primarily by pre-
pregnancy weight, may be key in obesity transmission, the goal of Prepare was to help women who were
overweight or had obesity lose weight by improving their diet and physical activity habits prior to becoming
pregnant. The program was effective in helping women lose weight before pregnancy and improving the
metabolic milieu in early pregnancy, and was regarded highly favorably by participants. Critically, we do not
yet know whether the program has an influence on long-term obesity and metabolic risk or diet and physical
activity habits of mothers and their offspring. Extending Prepare beyond its current end date—delivery—
offers a unique opportunity to test the hypothesis that intervening on women before pregnancy can affect
their long-term obesity and metabolic risk and that of their children.
In PrepareD, we propose to follow mothers and their offspring for 3 years after delivery in order to
determine the longer-term effect of the Prepare intervention on weight and other anthropometric measures;
metabolic markers; and diet and physical activity patterns of mothers and their offspring. The study includes
an in-person research visit after the children turn 3 as well as collection and analysis of medical record
weights and self-reported questionnaire data over the 3-year period. We will store biological samples
collected at the visit in a biorepository in order to conduct future studies about potential epigenetic and
microbiome pathways that might link pre-pregnancy weight loss to decreased long-term obesity risk in
mothers and their offspring. Through NIDDK bridge funding (R56 DK099882), we have had no break
between the RCT and follow-up cohort study. We have begun enrolling and collecting anthropometric
measures and biological samples from mother-offspring dyads. This additional funding will enable us to
complete enrollment and data collection and determine the effects of the commonly recommended obesity
prevention strategy, pre-pregnancy weight loss, on long-term weight and metabolic health of mothers and
their offspring. Should our results demonstrate efficacy of pre-pregnancy weight loss over the long term, the
Prepare ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10448337
- **Project number:** 5R01DK125348-03
- **Recipient organization:** KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** ERIN S LEBLANC
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $459,461
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-11 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10448337

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10448337, PrepareD: Examining post-Delivery maternal-offspring obesity and metabolic risk after a prepregnancy weight-loss intervention (5R01DK125348-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10448337. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*