The Importance of the Period of Dietary Restriction of the Dam on Behavior and Growth in the Rat

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Abstract
In previous studies a total dietary restriction of 50% during gestation and lactation has been shown to produce severely stunted progeny and abnormal behavior in rats. The present study was designed to determine if these two effects of necessity occurred together and were brought about by the same period of restriction. Restriction of food intake of the dams during pregnancy alone produced progeny with low birth weight, which led to a slight permanent stunting and impaired learning ability. Restriction of the food intake of mothers during the lactation period produced progeny with severe permanent growth stunting, higher feed intake per unit metabolic mass than the normal progeny, but normal learning ability as measured by elevated T maze. It is concluded that these findings demonstrate a dissociation between growth stunting and behavior aberrations in the offspring. The occurrence and type of damage depend on the period in which dietary restriction is imposed on the mother.