Feeding baby rats too much food right after birth makes them have higher levels of certain hormones and sugar in their blood when they're just 3 weeks old.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Postnatal early overfeeding induces hypothalamic higher SOCS3 expression and lower STAT3 activity in adult rats.

Cohort Study

Animal

2011 Feb

The study fed baby rats extra milk by putting them in small litters (fewer siblings means more milk each), and when these rats were 21 days old (weaning age), they had higher levels of leptin, insulin, and sugar in their blood - exactly what the claim says would happen.

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According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Postnatal early overfeeding induces hypothalamic higher SOCS3 expression and lower STAT3 activity in adult rats.

Score: 9

DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2009.11.013

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When baby rats are given too much food right after birth, they develop a problem when they grow up where their brains don't respond properly to leptin, a hormone that controls hunger. This is shown by higher levels of one protein (SOCS3) and lower activity of two other proteins (JAK2 and p-STAT3) in the part of the brain that manages hunger signals.

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