Fetal programming describes the process by which environmental stimuli impact fetal development to influence disease development later in life. Our analysis summarizes evidence for the role of fetal programming in eating disorder etiology through review of studies demonstrating specific obstetric complications and later eating risk of anorexia or bulimia. Using Pubmed, we found thirteen studies investigating obstetric factors and eating disorder risk published between 1999 and 2016. We then discuss modifiable maternal risk factors, including nutrition and stress, that influence anorexia or bulimia risk of their offspring. Translation of these findings applies to preventative strategies by health organizations and physicians to provide optimal health for mothers and their children to prevent development of medical and psychiatric illnesses.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 7. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 13 October 2025.
All research outputs
#6,192,680
of 29,623,043 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Theoretical Biology
#685
of 4,188 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#87,740
of 339,177 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Theoretical Biology
#14
of 66 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 29,623,043 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 78th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,188 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 83% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 339,177 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 73% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 66 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its contemporaries.
