Nutrition Publications

The world has gone through immense and rapid changes, and this has affected how we nourish and care for our children. While nutrition has improved overall, new challenges continue to arise, like the hike in childhood obesity, overlapping nutrition problems, and
climate change that threatens food security. These issues, and possible interventions, such as support for breastfeeding and a collaborative approach in different sectors are discussed more thoroughly in this edition of Annales.

CoMiSSTM is a clinical tool developed to increase awareness among healthcare professionals (HCP) of possible symptoms of cow's milk allergy (CMA) in infants. During this symposium, leading experts in the field of paediatric gastroenterology, allergy, and nutrition highlighted how CoMiSSTM can facilitate awareness of CMA and support HCPs in improving the patient journey from symptom presentation to diagnosis.

Nutrition over the past 100 years has brought about a wealth of new information that has shifted the focus from nutrition of the child as an individual, to the community and the environment. As we navigate towards solving the pertinent malnutrition problems, we look back at the history of pediatric nutrition research and look forward to the emerging new fields of studies—from the forms of malnutrition, more insights on the microbiome, HMOs and components of human milk, nutritional genomics, to dietary patterns and development of food preferences and how these may relate to future health—that aim to make an impact towards a healthier future.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are structurally diverse oligosaccharides present in breast milk, supporting the development of the gut microbiota and immune system. Previously, 2-HMO (2’fucosyllactose, lacto-N-neotetraose) compared to control formula feeding was associated with reduced risk of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs), in part linked to lower acetate and higher bifidobacteria proportions. Here, our objective was to gain further insight into additional molecular pathways linking the 2-HMO formula feeding and LRTI mitigation.

New allergy triggers, such as peanuts are becoming relevant. Recent research confirms that early tolerance formation can significantly reduce the risk of peanut contact. On the other hand, studies show that supplementation with human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) may reduce the risk of cow's milk allergy. Even for therapy, such supplementation with HMO is promising. In this publication you will get update on current state of allergy research.

The current pandemic and the concerns of vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have contributed to increasing the rate of breastfeeding interruption. This tendency has been associated with negative effects on the well-being of lactating mothers and their infants. The aim of this review is to summarize the evidence on the strategies to support breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic and on the safety of breastfeeding during a SARS-CoV-2 infection or after COVID-19 vaccination.

Studies have shown that aside from its health effects on babies, breastfeeding also positively impacts maternal health. Breastfeeding has been strongly associated with decreased maternal risk of type 2 diabetes, breast and ovarian cancers .Meanwhile, the definite link between breastfeeding and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has not been fully established. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to address this gap, as it presents the association between breastfeeding and maternal risk for CVD events, including coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and fatal CVD .

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have important biological functions for a healthy development in early life. This study aimed to investigate gut maturation effects of an infant formula containing five HMOs (20-fucosyllactose, 20,3-di-fucosyllactose, lacto-N-tetraose, 30- sialyllactose, and 60-sialyllactose). 

Thise Editorial highlights middle childhood and adolescence, between 5 and 19 years of age, as a transformative period in the lifecycle. These “school-age years” bridge early life and adulthood through significant and specific physiologic, somatic, cognitive, and psychosocial bursts of change.

The maximum rate of bone mass accumulation occurs during the school-age years and plateaus in late adolescence, after which little incremental accrual will occur.

School age is also a critical period of brain growth and development. By 12 years of age, brain and grey matter growth reach final adult size, and the brain tissue undergoes a great increase in pruning of “less utilized” neuronal synapses, which significantly increases brain efficiency.

While a significant number of reports document poor diets in significant segments of young children and adults, such data is scant for children in middle childhood (5-11years of age) and adolescence (12-19 years of age).

Standardized methodological approaches have greatly focused on infants and adults, and only recently have they been assessed and applied to adolescent populations. This is particularly true in reference to predictors of weight and adiposity and their relationship to nutrient intake and diet composition.

The persistence of undernutrition and the explosion of overnutrition and its consequences in later life have led to a concurrent burden of under- and overnutrition, aggravated by micronutrient deficiencies, all of which are more prevalent in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

The pandemic has made good nutrition more important, and also harder to achieve. Breastfeeding supports the infant immune system and has benefits for maternal mental health, but the pandemic has restricted support for new mothers and increased early termination of breastfeeding. Vaccination against COVID-19 has minimal impact on lactation or adverse impacts on infants, although an initial lack of clinical data has made many mothers hesitate to accept vaccination.

Cow milk protein allergy (CMPA) is the most common cause of food allergies in infants and young children less than 3 years old. It presents multiple ways and is the result of an immunologic response to cow milk proteins, which may be IgE or non-IgE-mediated.