Early Nutrition and its Later Consequences

Health problems such as hypertension, tendency to diabetes, obesity, blood lipids, vascular disease, bone health, behaviour and learning and longevity may be ‘imprinted’ during early life. This process is defined as ‘programming’ whereby a nutritional stimulus operating at a critical, sensitive period of pre and postnatal life imprints permanent effects on the structure, physiology and metabolism.

For this reason, academics and industry set-up the EC supported Scientific Workshop -Early Nutrition and its Later Consequences: New Opportunities. The prime objective of the Workshop was to generate a sound exchange of the latest scientific developments within the field of early nutrition to look for opportunities for new preventive health concepts. Further, a closer look was taken at the development of food applications which could provide (future) mothers and infants with improved nutrition that will ultimately lead to better future health. The Workshop was organised by the Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Munich, Germany in collaboration with the Danone Institutes and the Infant Nutrition Cluster, a collaboration of three large research projects funded by the EU.

Editor’s Introduction: Early Nutrition And Its Later Consequences: New Opportunities, Berthold Koletzko;
The Developmental Origins Of Adult Health And Well-Being, Alan Lucas;
Long Term Effects Of Breastfeeding On The Infant And Mother, Lene Schack-Nielsen, Anni Larnkjær, Kim Fleischer Michaelsen;
Experimental Evidence For Long-Term Programming Effects Of Early Diet, M E Symonds, H Budge, T Stephenson and D S Gardner;
Candidate Genes For Obesity – How Might They Interact With Environment And Diet?, Sadaf Farooqi;
Rate Of Growth In Early Life: A Predictor Of Later Health?, Marie Françoise Rolland-Cachera;
Protective Effect Of Breast-Feeding Against Obesity In Childhood, Stephan Arenz and Rüdiger von Kries;
Discussion Forum: From Innovation To Implementation, Hildegard Przyrembel et al.;
Challenges And Opportunities In Pan-European Collaboration For Researchers From Central And Eastern Europe, T. Decsi et al.;
Best Practice In Communicating The Results Of European Research To The Public, Margaret Ashwell and Michel Claessens;
Long Term Effects Of Pre- And Postnatal Exposure To Low And High Dietary Protein Levels, Cornelia C. Metges;
Protein Intake In The First Year Of Life: A Risk Factor For Later Obesity? Berthold Koletzko et al.;
The Role Of Long-Chain Poly-Unsaturated Fatty Acids (LCPUFA) In Growth And Development, Mijna Hadders-Algra;
Experimental Models For Studying Perinatal Lipid Metabolism.- Effect Of N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation In Pregnancy: The NUHEAL Trial, Tamás Decsi et al.;
Young Researchers’ Workshop, I. Broekaert and, E. Larque;
Consumer Needs Regarding Dietetic Products For Pregnant And Lactating Women And For Baby Foods, Monique Raats et al.;
Focus Group: Breakfast Meeting: SMES And Their Co-Operation With Academia, Jean Michel Antoine and Mats Strömqvist;
Ethical Issues In Perinatal Nutrition Research, Irene Cetin, and Robin Gill;
Early Programming Of Diabetes Risk – An Introduction, H.K.Åkerblom;
Early Nutrition And Later Diabetes Risk, Mikael Knip and Hans K. Åkerblom;
Is Type 1 Diabetes A Disease Of The Gut Immune System Triggered By Cow’s Milk Insulin? Outi Vaarala;
Gluten-Free Diet In Subjects At Risk For Type 1 Diabetes: A Tool For Delaying Progression To Clinical Disease? Emanuele Bosi et al.