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

Z to A

WP_Query Object
(
    [query] => Array
        (
            [post_type] => publication
            [posts_per_page] => 5
            [type] => 
            [area] => 
            [committee] => Metabolic Imprinting
            [authors] => 
            [showtitle] => 
            [meta_query] => Array
                (
                    [relation] => AND
                )

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

                )

            [paged] => 1
            [orderby] => title
            [order] => DESC
        )

    [query_vars] => Array
        (
            [post_type] => publication
            [posts_per_page] => 5
            [type] => 
            [area] => 
            [committee] => Metabolic Imprinting
            [authors] => 
            [showtitle] => 
            [meta_query] => Array
                (
                    [relation] => AND
                )

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

                )

            [paged] => 1
            [orderby] => title
            [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_key] => 
            [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
                (
                )

            [relation] => AND
            [meta_table] => 
            [meta_id_column] => 
            [primary_table] => 
            [primary_id_column] => 
            [table_aliases:protected] => Array
                (
                )

            [clauses:protected] => Array
                (
                )

            [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)
					 WHERE 1=1  AND ( 
  wp_3_term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id IN (26)
) 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_posts.post_title DESC
					 LIMIT 0, 5
    [posts] => Array
        (
            [0] => WP_Post Object
                (
                    [ID] => 6232
                    [post_author] => 24
                    [post_date] => 2019-03-12 13:41:34
                    [post_date_gmt] => 2019-03-12 13:41:34
                    [post_content] => 
                    [post_title] => Usual Dietary Treatment of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Assessed after Control Diet in Randomized Controlled Trials: Subanalysis of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
                    [post_excerpt] => 
                    [post_status] => publish
                    [comment_status] => closed
                    [ping_status] => closed
                    [post_password] => 
                    [post_name] => usual-dietary-treatment-of-gestational-diabetes-mellitus-assessed-after-control-diet-in-randomized-controlled-trials-subanalysis-of-a-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis
                    [to_ping] => 
                    [pinged] => 
                    [post_modified] => 2019-03-12 13:46:56
                    [post_modified_gmt] => 2019-03-12 13:46:56
                    [post_content_filtered] => 
                    [post_parent] => 0
                    [guid] => http://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=6232
                    [menu_order] => 0
                    [post_type] => publication
                    [post_mime_type] => 
                    [comment_count] => 0
                    [filter] => raw
                )

            [1] => WP_Post Object
                (
                    [ID] => 10456
                    [post_author] => 24
                    [post_date] => 2022-03-28 13:12:46
                    [post_date_gmt] => 2022-03-28 13:12:46
                    [post_content] => 


		
		Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health
		
	



		
		Nutrition and Brain Health
		
	



		
		Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation
		
	



		
		Prebiotics
		
	



		
		
	







		
		Probiotics
		
	



		GUT MICROBIOME AND HEALTH and NUTRITION AND CONSUMER SCIENCE
	

	
The gut and brain link via various metabolic and signalling pathways, each with the potential to influence mental, brain and cognitive health. Over the past decade, the involvement of the gut microbiota in gut-brain communication has become the focus of increased scientific interest, establishing the microbiota-gut-brain axis as a field of research. There is a growing number of association studies exploring the gut microbiota's possible role in memory, learning, anxiety, stress, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Consequently, attention is now turning to how the microbiota can become the target of nutritional and therapeutic strategies for improved brain health and well-being. However, while such strategies that target the gut microbiota to influence brain health and function are currently under development with varying levels of success, still very little is yet known about the triggers and mechanisms underlying the gut microbiota's apparent influence on cognitive or brain function and most evidence comes from pre-clinical studies rather than well controlled clinical trials/investigations. Filling the knowledge gaps requires establishing a standardised methodology for human studies, including strong guidance for specific focus areas of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, the need for more extensive biological sample analyses, and identification of relevant biomarkers. Other urgent requirements are new advanced models for in vitro and in vivo studies of relevant mechanisms, and a greater focus on omics technologies with supporting bioinformatics resources (training, tools) to efficiently translate study findings, as well as the identification of relevant targets in study populations. The key to building a validated evidence base rely on increasing knowledge sharing and multi-disciplinary collaborations, along with continued public-private funding support. This will allow microbiota-gut-brain axis research to move to its next phase so we can identify realistic opportunities to modulate the microbiota for better brain health.

	
To download this open-access article, please click here.

	
This work was conducted in collaboration with the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health, Nutrition and Brain Health, Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation, Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.



                    [post_title] => The microbiota–gut–brain axis: pathways to better brain health. Perspectives on what we know, what we need to investigate and how to put knowledge into practice
                    [post_excerpt] => 
                    [post_status] => publish
                    [comment_status] => closed
                    [ping_status] => closed
                    [post_password] => 
                    [post_name] => the-microbiota-gut-brain-axis-pathways-to-better-brain-health-perspectives-on-what-we-know-what-we-need-to-investigate-and-how-to-put-knowledge-into-practice
                    [to_ping] => 
                    [pinged] => 
                    [post_modified] => 2022-10-10 06:51:51
                    [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-10-10 06:51:51
                    [post_content_filtered] => 
                    [post_parent] => 0
                    [guid] => https://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=10456
                    [menu_order] => 0
                    [post_type] => publication
                    [post_mime_type] => 
                    [comment_count] => 0
                    [filter] => raw
                )

            [2] => WP_Post Object
                (
                    [ID] => 3613
                    [post_author] => 24
                    [post_date] => 2017-02-14 09:21:29
                    [post_date_gmt] => 2017-02-14 09:21:29
                    [post_content] => 
                    [post_title] => Systematic Review on N-3 and N-6 PUFA Intake in European Countries in Light of the Current Recommendations – Focus on Specific Population Groups
                    [post_excerpt] => 
                    [post_status] => publish
                    [comment_status] => closed
                    [ping_status] => closed
                    [post_password] => 
                    [post_name] => systematic-review-on-n-3-and-n-6-pufa-intake-in-european-countries-in-light-of-the-current-recommendations-focus-on-specific-population-groups
                    [to_ping] => 
                    [pinged] => 
                    [post_modified] => 2017-04-20 09:31:06
                    [post_modified_gmt] => 2017-04-20 09:31:06
                    [post_content_filtered] => 
                    [post_parent] => 0
                    [guid] => http://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=3613
                    [menu_order] => 0
                    [post_type] => publication
                    [post_mime_type] => 
                    [comment_count] => 0
                    [filter] => raw
                )

            [3] => WP_Post Object
                (
                    [ID] => 4134
                    [post_author] => 24
                    [post_date] => 2017-05-17 08:50:40
                    [post_date_gmt] => 2017-05-17 08:50:40
                    [post_content] => 
                    [post_title] => Systematic Review indicates Postnatal growth in term infants born small for gestational age is associated with later neurocognitive and metabolic outcomes
                    [post_excerpt] => 
                    [post_status] => publish
                    [comment_status] => closed
                    [ping_status] => closed
                    [post_password] => 
                    [post_name] => systematic-review-indicates-postnatal-growth-in-term-infants-born-small-for-gestational-age-is-associated-with-later-neurocognitive-and-metabolic-outcomes
                    [to_ping] => 
                    [pinged] => 
                    [post_modified] => 2017-09-28 09:03:46
                    [post_modified_gmt] => 2017-09-28 09:03:46
                    [post_content_filtered] => 
                    [post_parent] => 0
                    [guid] => http://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=4134
                    [menu_order] => 0
                    [post_type] => publication
                    [post_mime_type] => 
                    [comment_count] => 0
                    [filter] => raw
                )

            [4] => WP_Post Object
                (
                    [ID] => 16751
                    [post_author] => 351
                    [post_date] => 2025-11-21 09:39:34
                    [post_date_gmt] => 2025-11-21 09:39:34
                    [post_content] => 


			Abstract	

	
Background


Early-life exposures might negatively affect fetal and infant development, predisposing children to obesity. This study aimed to systematically identify and evaluate risk factors for childhood obesity in preconception, pregnancy, and infancy, and assess their potential for future prediction and prevention strategies.


Methods


This systematic review (PROSPERO, CRD42022355152) included longitudinal studies from selected electronic databases published between inception and August 17th, 2022, identifying maternal, paternal, or infant risk factors from preconception until infancy for childhood obesity between 2 and 18 years. Screening and data extraction were conducted using standardized forms. We assessed risk factor quality on modifiability and predictive power using a piloted criteria template from ILSI-Europe-Marker-Validation-Initiative.


Findings


We identified 172 publications from observational and five publications from intervention studies involving n = 1,879,971 children from 37, predominantly high-income, countries. Average reported childhood obesity prevalence was 11.1%. Pregnancy and infancy risk factors were mostly studied. We identified 59 potential risk factors; 23 were consistently associated. Strongest risk factors were: higher maternal prepregnancy weight (n = 28/31 publications with positive associations), higher gestational weight gain (n = 18/21), maternal smoking during pregnancy (n = 23/29), higher birth weight (n = 20/28), large-size-for-gestational-age-at-birth (n = 17/18), no breastfeeding (n = 20/31), and higher infant weight gain (n = 12/12). Level of evidence was generally moderate due to unreliable exposure measurement, short follow-up/loss to follow-up, and risk of confounding.


Interpretation


We identified seven early-life risk factors, which were strongly associated with childhood obesity, and can contribute to future prediction and prevention strategies. These findings support the implementation of prevention strategies targeting these risk factors from a clinical and population perspective, where possible integrated with implementation studies.



			One pager	

				
			
						Read the full paper
					
	
Commissioned by the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health Task Force



                    [post_title] => Risk Factors in the First 1000 Days of Life Associated With Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review and Risk Factor Quality Assessment
                    [post_excerpt] => 
                    [post_status] => publish
                    [comment_status] => closed
                    [ping_status] => closed
                    [post_password] => 
                    [post_name] => risk-factors-in-the-first-1000-days-of-life-associated-with-childhood-obesity-a-systematic-review-and-risk-factor-quality-assessment
                    [to_ping] => 
                    [pinged] => 
                    [post_modified] => 2025-11-21 09:58:16
                    [post_modified_gmt] => 2025-11-21 09:58:16
                    [post_content_filtered] => 
                    [post_parent] => 0
                    [guid] => https://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=16751
                    [menu_order] => 0
                    [post_type] => publication
                    [post_mime_type] => 
                    [comment_count] => 0
                    [filter] => raw
                )

        )

    [post_count] => 5
    [current_post] => -1
    [before_loop] => 
    [in_the_loop] => 
    [post] => WP_Post Object
        (
            [ID] => 6232
            [post_author] => 24
            [post_date] => 2019-03-12 13:41:34
            [post_date_gmt] => 2019-03-12 13:41:34
            [post_content] => 
            [post_title] => Usual Dietary Treatment of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Assessed after Control Diet in Randomized Controlled Trials: Subanalysis of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
            [post_excerpt] => 
            [post_status] => publish
            [comment_status] => closed
            [ping_status] => closed
            [post_password] => 
            [post_name] => usual-dietary-treatment-of-gestational-diabetes-mellitus-assessed-after-control-diet-in-randomized-controlled-trials-subanalysis-of-a-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis
            [to_ping] => 
            [pinged] => 
            [post_modified] => 2019-03-12 13:46:56
            [post_modified_gmt] => 2019-03-12 13:46:56
            [post_content_filtered] => 
            [post_parent] => 0
            [guid] => http://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=6232
            [menu_order] => 0
            [post_type] => publication
            [post_mime_type] => 
            [comment_count] => 0
            [filter] => raw
        )

    [comment_count] => 0
    [current_comment] => -1
    [found_posts] => 14
    [max_num_pages] => 3
    [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] => 17a47ddf84f719eb866efe1a424497f3
    [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:8a6f1a1d5ead7de945c4055475a20ad0
)

Multimedia

One-Pagers

Webinars

Completed Expert Groups