¹Department of Nephrology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Correspondence: JA Joles, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension F03.226, University Medical Center Utrecht, PO Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, the Netherlands. E-mail: j.a.joles@umcutrecht.nl

Abstract

Williams et al. demonstrate in sheep that juvenile obesity per se leads to renal pathology but that prenatal undernutrition effectively abolishes any renal pathology associated with juvenile obesity. These peculiar findings are quite opposite to what has been documented in many epidemiological and animal studies. They provoke questions about how adverse developmental conditions can either support or compromise adaptation to excess nutrient intake and low motor activity later in life.