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

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Activity Overview

Overview of ongoing and upcoming activities

Expert Groups

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Publications

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Task Force

Multimedia

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Completed Expert Groups

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each activity

Task Force Information

Objectives

The Task Force aims at providing scientific evidence to support guidelines for maternal and infant nutrition to ensure life-time optimal health. It also identifies risk factors for obesity and other health consequences at the earliest stages of life.

Task Force Members

WP DataTables

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: May 2021 | End date: Q4 2024

- Carbohydrates in toddlers’ nutrition

The activity aims to collect scientific evidence about digestible and non digestible carbohydrates in relation to health outcomes for toddlers (1-3 years old), taking into consideration complementary food as well as young child formula. The activity is shared with DC Task Force.

Start date: December 2021 | End date: Q4 2024

- 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: Q3 2022 | End date: Q4 2024

- Plant-based proteins for infants

The Expert Group on Plant-based proteins for infants aims to evaluate the nutritional quality of plant protein-based infant formula for term-born infants (< 1 years old). The group is organising a physical workshop with three sessions: Source, Processing, and Safety; Nutrition Quality and Health Impact; and Sustainability. A proceeding will be published.

Start: Q4 2023 | End: Q4 2025

In the Pipeline

  • Evidence review on gut-brain-axis, early microbiome development and mental health later in life.
  • Evidence review on probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics in infant nutrition.
  • Evidence review on vegan diet for children.
  • Evidence review/gap analysis on countries nutritional requirements for weaning food (1-3 years) / young child formula.

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 invasive and non-invasive, perinatal and postnatal biomarkers. This activity aims to:

- Summarise the current evidence for early life (perinatal and postnatal) biomarkers that are able to predict childhood obesity and related metabolic health.

- Emphasise relevance of combining conventional predictive markers (e.g. early weight gain) with novel applications of metabolomics, epigenetics and microbiota profiling. It will help to more accurately and effectively identify infants at risk to develop obesity.

- Emphasise importance of validity and reliability of identified biomarkers for application of such biomarkers in (daily) practice.

Output

The highlighted (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.

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).

Output

The results will be compiled in a review and published in a peer-reviewed journal. 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.

Expert Group Members

 

WP DataTables

Plant-based protein for infant

Background and Objectives

The adoption of vegan diets and the consequent demand for plant-based food and plant-based beverages has increased globally, including those suitable for infants. Proteins from plant-based sources usually have lower protein quality and poor technological characteristics (low solubility and poor heat stability) compared to animal-based proteins. Together with the specific infant nutritional requirements, multiple challenges for the application of plant-based proteins are foreseen.

This activity will identify challenges and considerations about the nutritional quality of plant protein-based infant formula for infants below 1 year by organizing a workshop in Q4 2024.

Output

Proceedings of debate/workshop including all challenges, all considerations, gap analysis and guideline for suitability of plant protein-based infant formula.

Expert Group Members

WP DataTables

Publications

Oldest to Newest

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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.

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The intestinal microbiota plays a major role in infant health and development. However, the role of the breastmilk microbiota in infant gut colonisation remains unclear. A systematic review was performed to evaluate the composition of the breastmilk microbiota and evidence for transfer to/colonisation of the infant gut. Searches were performed using PUBMED, OVID, LILACS and PROQUEST from inception until 18th March 2020 with a PUBMED update to December 2021. 88 full texts were evaluated before final critique based on study power, sample contamination avoidance, storage, purification process, DNA extraction/analysis, and consideration of maternal health and other potential confounders. Risk of skin contamination was reduced mainly by breast cleaning and rejecting the first milk drops. Sample storage, DNA extraction and bioinformatics varied. Several studies stored samples under conditions that may selectively impact bacterial DNA preservation, others used preculture reducing reliability. Only 15 studies, with acceptable sample size, handling, extraction, and bacterial analysis, considered transfer of bacteria to the infant. Three reported bacterial transfer from infant to breastmilk. Despite consistent evidence for the breastmilk microbiota, and recent studies using improved methods to investigate factors affecting its composition, few studies adequately considered transfer to the infant gut providing very little evidence for effective impact on gut colonisation.

Keywords Expand

Microbiota, infant, breast milk, gut colonisation, systematic review

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

Commissioned by the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health Task Force.

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Multimedia

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Completed Expert Groups