Offspring with pHA showed at postnatal day 21 (P21): (1) early-onset obesity, greater fat-mass, increased expression of IL-1β, IL-23, and Tnf-α, greater serum leptin and reduced glucose tolerance than Control (Ctrl); (2) less STAT3/AMPKα-activation, greater SOCS3 expression and reduced AKT/GSK3β-activation in the lung, indicative of leptin resistance and insulin signaling, respectively; (3) increased lung mRNA of IL-6, IL-13, IL-17A and Tnf-α. The gene discussed is STAT3; the disease is obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.