Objective　To examine the effects of maternal high-fat (HF) diet on the development of metabolic diseases in their offspring. Methods　Female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a high fat diet (F0-HF) or control (F0-CON) diet for 8 weeks before mating and throughout gestation and first 3 weeks of lactation. At 11 weeks of age, F1 females were mated to produce the F2 generation (F2-HCC and F2-CON). The metabolic markers and the liver pathology were examined in the F2 generations at 3 weeks of age. Results　The F2-HCC had a significantly higher birth weight and body weight at one week of age than F2-CON (P<0.05，respectively). At 3 weeks of age, the fasting blood glucose level and glucose tolerance area under the curve (AUC) in F2-HCC were significantly higher than those in F2-CON (P<0.05，respectively); the levels of total serum cholesterol and liver triglycerides were significantly higher in F2-HCC than those in group F2-CON (P<0.05，respectively). At birth and 3 weeks of age, the histological examination showed different degrees of fatty liver in F2-HCC, but normal structure in F2-CON. Conclusions　Maternal HF diet may result in increased body weight, fatty liver and impaired glucose tolerance in the F2 offspring.