Garza Puentes, Andrea de laMartí Alemany, AdriàChisaguano, Aida MaribelMontes Goyanes, RosaCastellote, Ana I.Torres-Espínola, Francisco J.García-Valdés, LuzEscudero-Marín, MireiaSegura, María TeresaCampoy, CristinaLópez-Sabater, M. Carmen2020-03-292020-03-292019de la Garza Puentes, A.; Martí Alemany, A.; Chisaguano, A.M.; Montes Goyanes, R.; Castellote, A.I.; Torres-Espínola, F.J.; García-Valdés, L.; Escudero-Marín, M.; Segura, M.T.; Campoy, C.; López-Sabater, M.C. The Effect of Maternal Obesity on Breast Milk Fatty Acids and Its Association with Infant Growth and Cognition—The PREOBE Follow-Up. Nutrients 2019, 11, 2154.http://hdl.handle.net/10347/20970This study analyzed how maternal obesity affected fatty acids (FAs) in breast milk and their association with infant growth and cognition to raise awareness about the programming effect of maternal health and to promote a healthy prenatal weight. Mother–child pairs (n = 78) were grouped per maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI): normal-weight (BMI = 18.5–24.99), overweight (BMI = 25–29.99) and obese (BMI > 30). Colostrum and mature milk FAs were determined. Infant anthropometry at 6, 18 and 36 months of age and cognition at 18 were analyzed. Mature milk exhibited lower arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), among others, than colostrum. Breast milk of non-normal weight mothers presented increased saturated FAs and n6:n3 ratio and decreased α-linolenic acid (ALA), DHA and monounsaturated FAs. Infant BMI-for-age at 6 months of age was inversely associated with colostrum n6 (e.g., AA) and n3 (e.g., DHA) FAs and positively associated with n6:n3 ratio. Depending on the maternal weight, infant cognition was positively influenced by breast milk linoleic acid, n6 PUFAs, ALA, DHA and n3 LC-PUFAs, and negatively affected by n6:n3 ratio. In conclusion, this study shows that maternal pre-pregnancy BMI can influence breast milk FAs and infant growth and cognition, endorsing the importance of a healthy weight in future generationseng© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Maternal obesityBreastfeedingBreast milkColostrumMature milkFatty acidsLC-PUFAOmega-3Omega-6DHAAAChildrenGrowthCognitionEarly life nutritionProgrammingjournal article10.3390/nu110921542072-6643open access