S Norris University of the Witwatersrand Health and wellbeing of female adolescents and young adults

A major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa is the complex relationship between poor maternal nutrition and postnatal stunting on one hand and the increased risk of adolescent and adult obesity on the other leading to an increased risk of type-2 diabetes (T2D) and metabolic disease in future generations. The proposed studies of contemporary urban and rural South African adolescent and young adults (generation 1) and their offspring (generation 2) will provide a unique opportunity to evaluate outcomes relating to risk factors for T2D and metabolic disease that are transmistted across generations. Primary research question relates to the effects of adolescent weight gain, pregnancy risk for T2D, and subsequent offspring disease risk.

A major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa is the complex interrelationship between poor maternal nutrition and postnatal stunting on one hand and the increased risk of adolescent and adult obesity on the other leading to an increased risk of type-2 diabetes (T2D) and metabolic disease in future generations. Drawing upon two well-established longitudinal research platforms, the urban Birth to Twenty cohort (Bt20) and rural Agincourt Health and Socio-demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), studies of contemporary adolescent and young adults (generation 1) and their offspring (generation 2) ? including detailed examination of pre-pregnancy and pregnancy exposures ? provide a unique opportunity to evaluate outcomes relating to future T2D and metabolic disease risk. Primary hypotheses relate to the effects of adolescent weight gain, pregnancy risk for T2D, and subsequent offspring disease risk. The achievements of Bt20 and Agincourt HDSS in providing robust data, serum, DNA, and other samples for scientific study confirm their utility as platforms supporting advanced research and interventions-development in a sphere important to all transitioning societies