Maternal nutritional status affects the offsprings health development significantly during early embryogenesis, pregnancy, birth and lactation, and subsequently determines health during growth and even throughout adulthood. On the other end of the human lifetime scale, the importance of maternal nutrition expands into the time period before conception: Pre-conception nutritional status not only influences fertility, but also embryogenesis and life-long health. Predisposition for coronary heart diseases, Type-2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertension can be caused by intrauterine adaptations to fetal malnutrition. Hence, optimizing nutrition for women during their reproductive period can be expected to have a great impact on the well being of the next generation. This workshop dealt with the effects of maternal nutrition on fetal growth, metabolic programming, energy and nutrient requirements, as well as under- and over-nutrition during pregnancy. Finally, it addressed the question of whether a distinct diet during pregnancy could reduce food allergy in the progeny. This book is a valuable and complete source of knowledge for all professionals involved in pediatrics, nutrition policy, womens health, immunology, epidemiology and public health.
In pregnancy, maternal nutrition sustains and nourishes the developing child. Imbalances in either the direction of nutritional excess or deficiency can have adverse consequences for child health. In addition, more research now suggests that good pregnancy nutrition influences child health beyond pregnancy and delivery. This includes modifying the risk of child health outcomes as they enter childhood and adulthood through influences on placental development, hormonal pathways, and organ structure and function. Poor pregnancy nutrition may also compromise maternal health during pregnancy, which may have long-term consequences for women’s health. Understanding the biological and social mechanisms operating during pregnancy can help in the design of better clinical and public health interventions. This Special Issue on “The Role of Pregnancy Nutrition in Maternal and Offspring Health” includes etiological and mechanistic studies of pregnancy nutrition with short- and long-term maternal and child health outcomes, including original research, narrative reviews, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Together, this body of work provides important insights into the influence of dietary patterns, food groups, and nutrients on pregnancy outcomes, and long-term neurodevelopmental, respiratory, and metabolic health in the children. It also highlights nutritional consequences for specific groups of women, including those with pregnancy complications and eating disorders.
In pregnancy, maternal nutrition sustains and nourishes the developing child. Imbalances in either the direction of nutritional excess or deficiency can have adverse consequences for child health. In addition, more research now suggests that good pregnancy nutrition influences child health beyond pregnancy and delivery. This includes modifying the risk of child health outcomes as they enter childhood and adulthood through influences on placental development, hormonal pathways, and organ structure and function. Poor pregnancy nutrition may also compromise maternal health during pregnancy, which may have long-term consequences for women's health. Understanding the biological and social mechanisms operating during pregnancy can help in the design of better clinical and public health interventions. This Special Issue on “The Role of Pregnancy Nutrition in Maternal and Offspring Health” includes etiological and mechanistic studies of pregnancy nutrition with short- and long-term maternal and child health outcomes, including original research, narrative reviews, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Together, this body of work provides important insights into the influence of dietary patterns, food groups, and nutrients on pregnancy outcomes, and long-term neurodevelopmental, respiratory, and metabolic health in the children. It also highlights nutritional consequences for specific groups of women, including those with pregnancy complications and eating disorders.
How to prevent and manage low birth weight Growth and nutrition during the fetal period and the first 24 months after birth are important determinants of development in early childhood. Optimal nutrition and health care of both the mother and infant during these first 1000 days of an infant's life are closely linked to growth, learning potential and neurodevelopment, in turn affecting long-term outcomes. Children with low birth weight do not only include premature babies, but also those with intrauterine growth restrictions who consequently have a very high risk of developing metabolic syndrome in the future. Epidemiology, epigenetic programming, the correct nutrition strategy and monitoring of outcomes are thus looked at carefully in this book. More specifically, two important nutritional issues are dealt with in depth: The first being the prevention of low birth weight, starting with the health of adolescent girls, through the pre-pregnancy and pregnancy stages and ending with lactation. The second point of focus concerns the nutritional follow-up and feeding opportunities in relation to dietary requirements of children with low birth weight.
Pregnancy is a viewed as a window to future health. With the birth of the developmental origins of human adult disease hypothesis, research and clinical practice has turned its attention to the influence of maternal factors such as health and lifestyle surrounding pregnancy as a means to understand and prevent the inter-generational inheritance of chronic disease susceptibility. Outcomes during pregnancy have long-lasting impacts on both women on children. Moreover, nutrition early in life can influence growth and the establishment of lifelong eating habits and behaviors. This Special Issue on “Nutrition during Pregnancy and Lactation: Implications for Maternal and Infant Health” is intended to highlight new epidemiological, mechanistic and interventional studies that investigate maternal nutrition around the pregnancy period on maternal and infant outcomes. Submissions may include original research, narrative reviews, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Maternal programming can have numerous detrimental effects on offspring development, growth, and health. To improve livestock production efficiency, it is necessary to determine the mechanisms that can result in reduced growth, health, and product quality. We hypothesized that 1) restricted- and over-feeding during gestation would inhibit offspring muscle development, and 2) high maternal milk production would affect factors involved in offspring growth and immunity. To investigate the effects of poor maternal nutrition on offspring muscle development and growth, pregnant Western White-faced ewes (n = 82) were randomly assigned to one of three diets at day 30 of gestation through parturition; a control- (100% NRC requirements; CON), restricted- (60% NRC; RES), or over-fed (140%; OVER) diet. At day 45, 90, and 135 of gestation and within 24 hours of birth, ewes and fetuses were euthanized for collection of offspring longissimus dorsi, semitendinosus, and triceps brachii (n = 10 to 15 fetuses per treatment per time point). Muscle sections were immunostained with Pax7 antibody and data were analyzed using PROC MIXED in SAS. An interaction of maternal diet by time point was observed in the semitendinosus (ST) and triceps brachii (TB), where Pax7(+) cells were decreased in RES offspring at day 45, 90, and 135 in the ST (P ≤ 0.02) and day 90 in the TB (P ≤ 0.002). Within OVER offspring, Pax7(+) cells were decreased at day 90 in the ST (P ≤ 0.02) and day 45 and 90 in the TB (P ≤ 0.04). No effect of maternal diet by time point was observed in the LD (P = 0.57). An interaction of maternal diet by litter size was also observed, where singletons and twins had reduced Pax7(+) cells in the ST and TB (P ≤ 0.02) but triplets had an increased percentage of Pax7(+) cells in the LD (P ≤ 0.04). In conclusion, maternal restricted- and over-feeding negatively affects prenatal muscle development over time but these effects are muscle specific. To investigate the effects of maternal milk production during gestation on calf growth and immunity, morphometric measurements and blood samples were obtained from dairy calves born to high (average lactation of 14,865 kg of milk; n = 17) or low (average lactation of 10,069 kg of milk; n = 18) milk producing cows within 24 hours of birth. Offspring will be referred to as HIGH or LOW, respectively. Blood samples were analyzed to determine concentrations of insulin, glucose, haptoglobin, interferon gamma, and other biochemical factors relating to growth and immunity. An effect of maternal lactation by gender was observed for skull width (P = 0.09), nose-occipital length (P = 0.03), glucose (P = 0.05), direct bilirubin (P = 0.07), calcium (P = 0.08), and magnesium (P = 0.07). Additionally, an effect of lactation was observed for total protein and globulin (P ≤ 0.01). No effect of lactation by gender, lactation, or gender was observed for insulin (P = 0.53), serum IgG (P = 0.23), colostrum IgG (P =32), or haptoglobin (P = 0.24). In conclusion, maternal lactation status can affect several factors relating to offspring growth and health. Future studies are required to further assess the effects of maternal programming on offspring development, growth, and health to improve current livestock production.
With the aim to improve clinicians' understanding of the important effects nutrition can have on maternal health and fetal and neonatal development, Maternal-Fetal Nutrition During Pregnancy and Lactation defines the nutritional requirements with regard to the stage of development and growth, placing scientific developments into clinical context.
Abstract: The nutritional status of the pregnant women is being recognized as one of the most important factors in the development of a baby, both pre and postnatally. Malnutrition can cause sterility, spontaneous aborption, stillbirth, premature birth, deformities and mental retardation. Statistics from many sources, such as European clinics during WWII and current figures from hospital observations all over the country, have been collected and compiled to provide information on prenatal and early childhood development in relation to nutrition in three ways--physiologically, neurologically, and behaviorally. Low birth weight is the measurement most closely associated with the incidence of neonatal disorders, and is shown to be closely related also to maternal nutrition. Reproductive casualties, particularly in regard to handicapped children, can be greatly decreased by better education and nourishment of expectant mothers.
An authoritative and comprehensive review of our current knowledge of the vitamins, their metabolic functions and the scientific basis for setting recommended intakes for the prevention of deficiency and promotion of optimum health. This publication will be a valuable reference for students and specialists alike in the field of nutritional biochemistry.
