Plasma lipid profiles in adults after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine

The authors assessed the effects of maternal malnutrition during specific periods of gestation on plasma lipid profiles in persons aged approximately 50 y. They investigated men and women born at term in a university hospital in Amsterdam between 1 November 1943 and 28 February 1947 around the time of a severe famine. Persons exposed to famine in early gestation had a more atherogenic lipid profile than did those who were not exposed to famine in utero (these differences were not statistically significant).