Energy dense, protein restricted diet increases adiposity and perturbs metabolism in young, genetically lean pigs.

Animal models of obesity and metabolic dysregulation during growth (or childhood) are lacking. Our objective was to increase adiposity and induce metabolic syndrome in young, genetically lean pigs. Pre-pubertal female pigs, age 35 d, were fed a high-energy diet (HED; n = 12), containing 15% tallow, 35% refined sugars and 9.1-12.9% crude protein, or a control corn-based diet (n = 11) with 12.2-19.2% crude protein for 16 wk. Initially, HED pigs self-regulated energy intake similar to controls, but by wk 5, consumed more (P