Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health

Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health

Why nutrition  in early life matters?

Task Force Information

Objectives and list of Task Force members

Contact Information

Contact details in case you have specific questions

Activity Overview

Overview of ongoing and upcoming activities

Expert Groups

Objectives, output and list of experts involved in each activity

Publications

List of publications of this
Task Force

Multimedia

Links to Task Force related documents, recordings and much more...

Completed Expert Groups

Details including experts involved of
each activity

Task Force Information

Objectives

The Early Nutrition and Long-term Health Task Force generates and synthesises scientific evidence on nutrition from preconception through early childhood to inform maternal and infant nutrition guidelines and reduce the risk of obesity and other long-term health consequences.

Why It Matters

The first 1000 days of life, from preconception to age two, are a period of heightened biological plasticity: nutritional exposures during this window can programme metabolic, cognitive, and immune trajectories with effects that last into adulthood.

For public health, evidence-based nutrition from preconception through early childhood can support healthier starts in life and help prevent childhood obesity. Early-life prevention is more effective and cheaper than treating problems later.

For companies, robust evidence supports responsible product development, innovation and clear nutrition guidance. This helps companies meet evolving recommendations and build trust with parents and healthcare professionals.

Task Force Members

* Scientific Advisor

Contact Information

For more detailed information, please contact Ching-Yu Chang at cchang@ilsieurope.be

Activity Overview

Ongoing

- Early Biomarkers for Prediction of Metabolic Health

The Expert Group on early biomarkers for prediction of metabolic health aims to review biomarkers in early life that could be used to predict development of childhood obesity and metabolic health. This prediction may drive knowledge of personalised nutrition.

Start date: 2021 | End date: 2025

- Lipid Quality in Early Life Nutrition

The Expert Group on Lipid quality in early life nutrition aims to generate an overview of the dietary lipid quality in the first year of life and its relations with health benefits for consumers.

Start date: 2022 | End date: 2025

- Postbiotics in Early Life Nutrition

The purpose of this activity is to bring together diverse expertise to address the multifaceted challenges and considerations associated with adding postbiotics to infant and toddler nutrition.

Start: 2025 | End: 2027

Upcoming Activities

- HMOS on Infant Microbiota and Neurodevelopment, Behaviour and Mental Health

The Expert Group aims to conduct a systematic review assessing the impact of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) on microbiota development and its association with cognitive outcomes, identify key scientific and methodological gaps, and provide evidence-based recommendations to inform future research.

Start: 2026 | End: 2028

Expert Groups

Early Biomarkers for Prediction of Metabolic Health

Background and Objectives

The aim of the activity is to review biomarkers in early life that could be used to predict development of childhood obesity and metabolic health. The activity will focus on both invasive and non-invasive perinatal and postnatal biomarkers.

Recent findings in the development of biomarkers for early life prediction of metabolic health could be used to guide risk prediction and stratification. This prediction may drive development and knowledge of personalised (infant) nutrition to reduce the risk of childhood obesity. Researchers should become aware of the urgency to develop and validate new predictive biomarkers that are both easily detectable and responsive to nutritional interventions.

Output

Open access peer reviewed publication.

Expert Group Members

Lipid Quality in Early Life Nutrition

Background and Objectives

The activity aims to generate an overview of the fatty acid (FA) quality composition consumption (by means of from all dietary sources; human milk, infant milk formula and complementary feeding) in the first year of life and to what extent this brings or relates to its relation to health benefits for infants consumers. A particular focus is given on exploring appropriate intake levels of Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA) and Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA).

The publication will summarise expert insights and hopefully propose a consensus on the FA profile of the first year of life diet. It will highlight knowledge gaps and outline plans for future research and possibly a basis for new EFSA recommendations.

Output

Open access peer reviewed publication.

Expert Group Members

 

Postbiotics for Early Life Nutrition

Background and Objectives

The amount of scientific literature on postbiotics, as well as the term ‘postbiotics’ on commercial products is rapidly rising. The purpose of this activity is to bring together diverse expertise to address the multifaceted challenges and considerations associated with adding postbiotics to infant and toddler nutrition. This will include experts in microbiology, nutrition, paediatrics, immunology, food science, regulation and clinical research. Key objectives would be to list and discuss considerations around safety and efficacy, regulatory, characterization and formulation challenges, clinical trial design and reporting, consumer education. Additionally, to discuss the existence of ‘natural’ postbiotics in human milk as well as toddler fermented food.

Output

Review of the current literature + Physical workshop (September 2026) & its proceedings.

Expert Group Members

Publications

Filter

White Papers/Reports

No results.

WP_Query Object
(
    [query] => Array
        (
            [post_type] => publication
            [posts_per_page] => 5
            [type] => 
            [area] => 
            [committee] => Metabolic Imprinting
            [authors] => 
            [showtitle] => 
            [meta_query] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [key] => _ilsi_type
                            [value] => white-paper-report
                            [compare] => =
                        )

                )

            [tax_query] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [taxonomy] => ilsi_committee
                            [field] => name
                            [terms] => Metabolic Imprinting
                        )

                )

            [paged] => 1
            [meta_key] => _ilsi_date
            [orderby] => meta_value
            [order] => DESC
        )

    [query_vars] => Array
        (
            [post_type] => publication
            [posts_per_page] => 5
            [type] => 
            [area] => 
            [committee] => Metabolic Imprinting
            [authors] => 
            [showtitle] => 
            [meta_query] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [key] => _ilsi_type
                            [value] => white-paper-report
                            [compare] => =
                        )

                )

            [tax_query] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [taxonomy] => ilsi_committee
                            [field] => name
                            [terms] => Metabolic Imprinting
                        )

                )

            [paged] => 1
            [meta_key] => _ilsi_date
            [orderby] => meta_value
            [order] => DESC
            [error] => 
            [m] => 
            [p] => 0
            [post_parent] => 
            [subpost] => 
            [subpost_id] => 
            [attachment] => 
            [attachment_id] => 0
            [name] => 
            [pagename] => 
            [page_id] => 0
            [second] => 
            [minute] => 
            [hour] => 
            [day] => 0
            [monthnum] => 0
            [year] => 0
            [w] => 0
            [category_name] => 
            [tag] => 
            [cat] => 
            [tag_id] => 
            [author] => 
            [author_name] => 
            [feed] => 
            [tb] => 
            [meta_value] => 
            [preview] => 
            [s] => 
            [sentence] => 
            [title] => 
            [fields] => all
            [menu_order] => 
             => 
            [category__in] => Array
                (
                )

            [category__not_in] => Array
                (
                )

            [category__and] => Array
                (
                )

            [post__in] => Array
                (
                )

            [post__not_in] => Array
                (
                )

            [post_name__in] => Array
                (
                )

            [tag__in] => Array
                (
                )

            [tag__not_in] => Array
                (
                )

            [tag__and] => Array
                (
                )

            [tag_slug__in] => Array
                (
                )

            [tag_slug__and] => Array
                (
                )

            [post_parent__in] => Array
                (
                )

            [post_parent__not_in] => Array
                (
                )

            [author__in] => Array
                (
                )

            [author__not_in] => Array
                (
                )

            [search_columns] => Array
                (
                )

            [ignore_sticky_posts] => 
            [suppress_filters] => 
            [cache_results] => 1
            [update_post_term_cache] => 1
            [update_menu_item_cache] => 
            [lazy_load_term_meta] => 1
            [update_post_meta_cache] => 1
            [nopaging] => 
            [comments_per_page] => 50
            [no_found_rows] => 
            [taxonomy] => ilsi_committee
            [term_id] => Metabolic Imprinting
        )

    [tax_query] => WP_Tax_Query Object
        (
            [queries] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [taxonomy] => ilsi_committee
                            [terms] => Array
                                (
                                    [0] => Metabolic Imprinting
                                )

                            [field] => name
                            [operator] => IN
                            [include_children] => 1
                        )

                )

            [relation] => AND
            [table_aliases:protected] => Array
                (
                    [0] => wp_3_term_relationships
                )

            [queried_terms] => Array
                (
                    [ilsi_committee] => Array
                        (
                            [terms] => Array
                                (
                                    [0] => Metabolic Imprinting
                                )

                            [field] => name
                        )

                )

            [primary_table] => wp_3_posts
            [primary_id_column] => ID
        )

    [meta_query] => WP_Meta_Query Object
        (
            [queries] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [key] => _ilsi_date
                        )

                    [1] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => Array
                                (
                                    [key] => _ilsi_type
                                    [value] => white-paper-report
                                    [compare] => =
                                )

                            [relation] => OR
                        )

                    [relation] => AND
                )

            [relation] => AND
            [meta_table] => wp_3_postmeta
            [meta_id_column] => post_id
            [primary_table] => wp_3_posts
            [primary_id_column] => ID
            [table_aliases:protected] => Array
                (
                    [0] => wp_3_postmeta
                    [1] => mt1
                )

            [clauses:protected] => Array
                (
                    [wp_3_postmeta] => Array
                        (
                            [key] => _ilsi_date
                            [compare] => =
                            [compare_key] => =
                            [alias] => wp_3_postmeta
                            [cast] => CHAR
                        )

                    [mt1] => Array
                        (
                            [key] => _ilsi_type
                            [value] => white-paper-report
                            [compare] => =
                            [compare_key] => =
                            [alias] => mt1
                            [cast] => CHAR
                        )

                )

            [has_or_relation:protected] => 
        )

    [date_query] => 
    [request] => SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS  wp_3_posts.ID
					 FROM wp_3_posts  LEFT JOIN wp_3_term_relationships ON (wp_3_posts.ID = wp_3_term_relationships.object_id) INNER JOIN wp_3_postmeta ON ( wp_3_posts.ID = wp_3_postmeta.post_id )  INNER JOIN wp_3_postmeta AS mt1 ON ( wp_3_posts.ID = mt1.post_id )
					 WHERE 1=1  AND ( 
  wp_3_term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id IN (26)
) AND ( 
  wp_3_postmeta.meta_key = '_ilsi_date' 
  AND 
  ( 
    ( mt1.meta_key = '_ilsi_type' AND mt1.meta_value = 'white-paper-report' )
  )
) AND ((wp_3_posts.post_type = 'publication' AND (wp_3_posts.post_status = 'publish' OR wp_3_posts.post_status = 'acf-disabled')))
					 GROUP BY wp_3_posts.ID
					 ORDER BY wp_3_postmeta.meta_value DESC
					 LIMIT 0, 5
    [posts] => Array
        (
        )

    [post_count] => 0
    [current_post] => -1
    [before_loop] => 
    [in_the_loop] => 
    [comment_count] => 0
    [current_comment] => -1
    [found_posts] => 0
    [max_num_pages] => 0
    [max_num_comment_pages] => 0
    [is_single] => 
    [is_preview] => 
    [is_page] => 
    [is_archive] => 1
    [is_date] => 
    [is_year] => 
    [is_month] => 
    [is_day] => 
    [is_time] => 
    [is_author] => 
    [is_category] => 
    [is_tag] => 
    [is_tax] => 1
    [is_search] => 
    [is_feed] => 
    [is_comment_feed] => 
    [is_trackback] => 
    [is_home] => 
    [is_privacy_policy] => 
    [is_404] => 
    [is_embed] => 
    [is_paged] => 
    [is_admin] => 
    [is_attachment] => 
    [is_singular] => 
    [is_robots] => 
    [is_favicon] => 
    [is_posts_page] => 
    [is_post_type_archive] => 
    [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => 0b2ae4d4a837e74f87e2a80189ac5639
    [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => 
    [thumbnails_cached] => 
    [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => 
    [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => 
    [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array
        (
            [0] => query_vars_hash
            [1] => query_vars_changed
        )

    [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array
        (
            [0] => init_query_flags
            [1] => parse_tax_query
        )

    [query_cache_key:WP_Query:private] => wp_query:75275432ba9a5cd97e7557fd587860b3
)

Multimedia

One-Pagers

Webinars

Completed Expert Groups