The Nest

The infant gut microbiome is a dynamic ecosystem that undergoes changes from birth until two to three years of age, followed by a gradual evolution towards an adult microbiome in later childhood. The early life microbiome trajectory is influenced by many factors with nutrition playing a crucial role. Dysbiosis in the first years of life is related to lifelong health consequences. Human milk oligosaccharides and probiotics have the potential to modulate the gut microbiome with consequent positive impact on reducing the risk of developing certain diseases.

Articles and Books

Annales Nestlé

Metabolic imbalances during pregnancy, such as GDM, might result in epigenetic changes which affect the offspring and might predispose to noncommunicable diseases later in life.

The Nest

Infant feeding is a large component of parenting that encompasses the social, cultural, and economic structure of a parent’s life. There are universal challenges for parents, no matter where in the world they are raising their children. Health Care Professionals are the preferred source on parenting advice. Their role in education and support is key to empower parents to adopt recommended infant feeding.

Articles and Books

Prevention of allergic disease in children has been on the agenda for many decades. Although several studies have been performed in the last 3 decades with both types of hydrolyzed formulae (extensively and partially hydrolyzed) with regard to their ability to prevent allergic diseases, the most important findings derive from the German Infant Nutritional Intervention study (GINI). The GINI study is by far the largest study in the field of allergy prevention with hydrolysates and the study with the longest follow-up (up to now until 20 years). The findings confirm the concept that early nutritional intervention with certain hydrolyzed formulae, if exclusive breastfeeding is not feasible, has a preventive effect until adulthood for both eczema and allergic airway manifestation.

Conference Proceedings

This is a conference proceedings from the symposium that took place on 16th October 2020 at Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Meeting and the European Consortium on Application of Flow Cytometry in Allergy (FAAM-EUROBAT) Digital 2020. This symposium was designed to provide an update on recent advances in our understanding of the role of human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) in the management of infant food allergies, specifically cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA).

Articles and Books

Food allergies affect around 240-550 million people worldwide. They are most common in infants and children. While in most cases, food allergies cause mild symptoms, some can cause severe reactions, and may even be life-threatening.

Conference Proceedings

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) refers to a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia. MCI is defined by an objective decline in cognitive functioning (using appropriate cognitive tests) that exceeds the expected level given the patient’s age and education. Such cognitive changes do not impair social functioning or activities of daily living.

Annales Nestlé

Vitamin D is a prohormone absorbed from food sources or supplements and also synthesized in the skin following exposure to ultraviolet light. Few foods naturally contain vitamin D.

Articles and Books

Around half of Filipino children 1-5 years old are not consuming any dairy products on a given day, which increases risk of inadequate nutrient intakes. Dietary modelling was applied to assess the nutritional impact of meeting dairy recommendations in reducing nutrient inadequacy. If all children would meet their dairy recommendations, theoretical reductions in population nutrient inadequacy would be seen for all micronutrients. Therefore, dairy consumption should be encouraged.

Articles and Books

Milk and rice were the main dietary components in all Filipino children, contributing up to 60% of energy in the infants from poorer households. Consumption of protein-containing foods and vegetables were typically lower in poorer households. Interventions are required to enable caregivers of young Filipino children to provide complementary foods of high nutritional quality, particularly among children from the poor households.

Articles and Books

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) vary among mothers and genetic factors contribute to this variability. This study assessed changes in HMO concentrations during the first year of lactation and the relationship with FUT2 Secretor group and FUT3 Lewis group defining genetic polymorphisms.

Articles and Books

Breastfeeding is thought to be protective against Atopic Dermatitis (AD) and Food Allergy (FA), but the data are controversial, and mechanisms are not well understood.

Articles and Books

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) often lead to referral to a paediatrician during the first 6 months of life and are often responsible for hospitalisation, feeding changes, use of drugs, parental anxiety, and loss of parental working days with relevant social consequences. “Current evidence suggests that L reuteri may be effective in the prevention of some functional gastrointestinal disorders, such as colic and regurgitation. Preliminary data also suggest that L reuteri may be useful for treating functional constipation.”

Articles and Books

Gastrointestinal woes – such as gastroesophageal reflux, colic and dyschezia – are common among infants. “Gastrointestinal woes are common among infants. Many of these resolve spontaneously and do not need extensive testing or treatment.”

Articles and Books

The evidence base supporting the use of pHF in primary allergy prevention continues to evolve. When reviewing available literature, it is important to note that the ability to draw conclusions largely depends on the study design. “The protein source, the degree of hydrolysis and the processing techniques used in the manufacture of hydrolysed formula differ across companies and accounts for the differences between formula’s ability to confer allergy preventive effects.”

Articles and Books

A 2017 meta-analysis concluded that the use of pHF reduces the risk of eczema and all allergic diseases at some, albeit not all, time points among children at high risk for allergy. “…not all hydrolysed formulas are the same; when considering a hydrolysed formula for allergy prevention, it is vital to choose one that has been proven or confirmed to have reduced allergenicity.”

Conference Proceedings

The world’s population is ageing. According to data from the World Population Prospects: the 2019 Revision, by 2050, one in six people in the world will be over age 65 (16%), up from one in 11 in 2019 (6%).

NNI Workshop Series

According to the World Health Organization, the early child period, i.e., from birth to 5 years of age, is considered the most important developmental phase throughout the lifespan.

Articles and Books

The following paper investigated three variations of the balanced carbohydrate ratio and its ability to identify products of a higher nutritional quality in products from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.