Nutrition Publications

Allergies now affect more people than we think. About 1 in 3 children suffer from at least one allergy in developed countries alone. With the steady hike in cases of allergies and its different manifestations, we veer focus now to preventing allergies and lowering long term risks. In this edition of The Nest, we investigate the role nutrition plays in achieving better outcomes for allergy prevention.

Cognitive function declines with ageing. When this decline begins to be more pronounced, mild cognitive impairment occurs.

The highest growth rates in weight and length occur during fetal life and in the first two years of life after birth and during adolescence. Nutrition is childhood is crucial for adequate growth and development, including adequate immune system functioning and brain development.

Throughout human history it has been known that adequate nutrition is crucial for normal child growth, and this has become a common concern to all child health care givers since at least the 19th century. Yet, the precise mechanisms underpinning the interaction between nutrition and growth have not been fully clarified. It is important, yet challenging, to define the best nutrition for healthy and active children as well as for those who suffer from acute or chronic disease, considering varying needs of different age groups.

The first 1000 days of a child is considered to be a vital stage and a point of development in nourishing infants from birth to lifelong health. Balanced growth in this period is needed as it can lower the risk of developing obesity later on.

Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) is a unique probiotic as it is able to metabolize the full range of human milk oligosaccharide in breastfed infants. A recent trial evaluated healthy breastfed and formula-fed infants randomized to receive a placebo-control or a low or high dose B. infantis supplement for 8 weeks.

Human milk composition changes dynamically during lactation, whereas infant formula composition is relatively static. This may contribute to growth/metabolic differences between breastfed and formula-fed infants. The aim of this study was to evaluate growth and metabolic outcomes in healthy term infants fed sequential formulas with age-adapted protein concentrations from birth to 12 months, in comparison to breastfed infants.

Breastmilk is abundant in structurally diverse HMOs. Scientific evidence shows HMOs have different biological functions important for a healthy development in early life. New research presents 12-month follow-up data from a study evaluating infant and follow-up formula containing a blend of 5 different HMOs, designed to represent some of the major HMOs found in breastmilk.

In the first published clinical trial using an innovative device to measure glycemic response to different feeding regimens in healthy infants, reports a lower-protein follow-on formula with 100% lactose complemented with infant cereal with whole grain and pulses promoted lower glycemic response along with lower insulin demand and less insulin secretion, which may have beneficial long-term effects on metabolic health.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have important and diverse biological functions in early life. This study tested the safety and efficacy of a starter infant formula containing Limosilactobacillus (L.) reuteri DSM 17938 and supplemented with 2’‑fucosyllactose (2’FL).

This randomized clinical trial (Registration: NCT03085134) assessed if an extensively hydrolyzed formula (EHF) supplemented with two human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) and reduced protein content (2.20 g/100 kcal) supports normal growth in infants with cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA).

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) may support immune protection, partly via their action on the early-life gut microbiota. Exploratory findings of a randomized placebo- controlled trial associated 2′fucosyllactose (2′FL) and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT) formula feeding with reduced risk for reported bronchitis and lower respiratory tract illnesses (LRTI), as well as changes in gut microbiota composition.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have been researched by scientists for over 100 years, driven by the substantial evidence for the nutritional and health benefits of mother's milk. Yet research has truly bloomed during the last decade, thanks to progress in biotechnology, which has allowed the production of large amounts of bona fide HMOs.

Over the last few years, published reports document the presence of heavy metals in certain foods. This is of particular concern when these foods are consumed by infants and young children due to the potential effect of heavy metal exposure on neurological development even at low levels.

The growing global prevalence of allergy, particularly among children, poses a major public health problem and multipronged approaches for allergy prevention are under active investigation, focusing on key periods during pregnancy and early infancy.

While the gut microbiota was once called “the forgotten organ”, it is no longer forgotten. On the contrary, it is a hot topic for research, as documented by the rapidly increasing number of scientific papers on this subject as well as coverage in the lay press,

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which includes non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), are highly prevalent diseases associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Obesity/overweight and dietary intake are important risk factors.

The Ominous Quartet’ represents four glycaemic disorders at the centre of cardiovascular diseases in diabetes, including ambient hyperglycaemia, glycaemic variability (GV), postprandial glucose (PPG) excursions, and hypoglycaemic episodes. It is important to understand the interrelationship between these disorders, targets and thresholds for monitoring purposes, and impact on cardiovascular outcomes.

The first nutrient reference framework for plant-based beverages (PBB) has been published with the aim to guide the development and formulation of healthy plant-based beverages of high nutritional quality. Often viewed as equivalent to milk in nutritional value, many PBB are often low in protein and are fortified with varying amounts of calcium, and vitamins A and D.

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in young children. By studying 240 Bangladeshi mother-infant pairs, it was observed that, while the community of microbes present in the nasopharynges of infants was not associated with later onset of ARI, maternal genetic polymorphisms on a gene involved in shaping the composition of human breast milk influences the occurrence of ARIs.