Prenatal diet and childhood ADHD: exploring the potential role of IGF2 methylation

Unhealthy diet during pregnancy is a risk factor for a wide range of negative health and psychiatric outcomes [1]. For example, high-sugar and fat diets associate not only with increased risk for noncommunicable diseases [2], such as diabetes and obesity, but also for neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct problems (CP) [3]. In the nutritional field, epigenetics is an important area of investigation, as nutrients and bioactive compounds can alter the expression of genes at the transcriptional level [4]. Because epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, can be passed on during cell division and result in long-term phenotypic changes [5], they...