Figure 4.

Offspring energy intake in peripubertal mice following maternal HFHC-diet-induced obesity. Meal size (A), meal frequency (B), and time spent eating (C) were measured in male and female offspring born to CON and HFHC dams, following weaning. HFHC males had 15% larger meals and 46% more meals than CON males (A,B). There were no significant differences between the CON and HFHC females (A–C). Male and female offspring born to HFHC dams had increased meal size, compared to CON male and female offspring (p = 0.01, A). This effect of diet was not seen in male and female offspring in meal frequency or time (B,C). Males had an increased meal frequency compared to females (p = 0.0001, B). There was an interaction between diet (CON vs. HFHC) and sex (male vs. female) in meal frequency (B). Results are expressed as mean ± SEM. CON—offspring born to dams maintained on control diet; HFHC—offspring born to dams maintained on high-fat–high-carbohydrate diet. Open bars represent CON offspring; closed bars represent HFHC offspring; unpaired t-test or two-way ANOVA, followed by post-hoc Tukey’s HSD; n = 4–6/group, vs. offspring born to dams consuming same diet (diet effect), vs. male offspring born to dams consuming different diets (sex effect); * p < 0.05, p values > 0.1 were recorded as non-significant (NS).