Annales Nestlé

This edition of Annales Nestlé highlights emerging research on the crucial role of breastfeeding and the gut microbiome during the first 1,000 days—a critical window for lifelong health. It explores how bioactive compounds in human milk shape the infant gut microbiome, influencing immunity, metabolism, neurodevelopment, and bone health. Delivery mode, diet, antibiotics, and environment significantly impact microbial colonization, with disruptions linked to increased risks of allergies, metabolic disorders, gastrointestinal diseases, and bone loss. Interventions for optimizing microbiome

Early childhood is a critical period when nutrition and environmental factors strongly influence lifelong brain development, physical health, and overall well-being. Both undernutrition and overnutrition can lead to growth faltering and increase the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with lasting effects on individual potential and broader societal outcomes. This issue of Annales Nestlé presents practical, up-to-date strategies for assessing growth and addressing both faltering and catch-up growth. It emphasizes early growth as a crucial phase for metabolic and developmental programming

While the survival of extremely low birthweight (ELBW) infants has increased over the years, problems of extended neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stays, neurdeveopmental delays, poor vision, chronic lung disease, intestinal maladies and propensity for metabolic disorders in later life are still challenges that persist. One of the leading environmental factors that can shape the short-term and long-term outcomes of these infants relate to the optimisation of their nutrition. This edition of Annales Nestlé gives insights on the past and present of nutrition for the ELBW infant, and foresight