Articles and Books

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.

In collaboration with the University of Leipzig, Nestlé Research explored the association of Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) in the breast milk of 143 mothers with maternal and infant parameters including infant and child growth from 3 months to 7 years of age.

It has become increasingly more evident during Covid-19 pandemic times that nutrition plays a significant role for the healthy development of the child, starting already from pregnancy.

The year 2020 has been a year where a new virus, SARS-CoV-2, changed the world. With that, the food chain was challenged in many parts of the world. Ensuring adequate nutrition to secure the growth and well-being, particularly of infants and young children, met new obstacles.

Adequate calcium intake is critical in school-age years to ensure adequate bone mineralisation; however, the effects of adequacy in childhood on bone health in later years is not well documented. In this study, researchers sought to determine whether milk intake during childhood and adolescence is associated with adult bone mass (bone mineral content), bone mineral density, and the incidence of osteoporotic fracture.

Food literacy is a promising approach to support healthy dietary behaviours in adolescents. However, adolescents' perspectives on food literacy and the impact it could have on their dietary behaviours are not well understood. This study explored adolescents' perspectives on the potential for food literacy to influence their dietary behaviours.

The latter half of school-age years represents the fastest period of bone growth and calcium accretion in an individual's life, after which bine mineralisation only declines. This clinical report reviews all major aspects of normal bone acquisition in infants, children, and adolescents and discusses factors affecting bone health in this age group.

Childhood and adolescent obesity is high and continues to increase globally, and some evidence suggests that overweight and obesity may affect cognitive skills and school performance. The aim of this review was to find out if healthy weight interventions can improve thinking skills (executive function) and school performance in children and teenagers with obesity.