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Background As part of the USDA–Department of Health and Human Services Pregnancy and Birth to 24 Months Project, we conducted systematic reviews (SRs) on topics important for health and nutrition of young children. Objectives The purpose of the present SR was to examine the relation between caregiver feeding practices in children from birth to 24 mo and child weight gain, size, and body composition. Methods A search of articles published from January 1980 to January 2017 in 4 databases identified 8739 references. Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) analysts used the Nutrition Evidence Library Risk of Bias Assessment Tool to assess potential bias in the studies, and a Technical Expert Collaborative graded the body of evidence using the NESR grading rubric. Results Twenty-seven articles were included in this review (8 controlled trials, 19 longitudinal cohort studies). Moderate evidence from randomized controlled trials suggests that providing responsive feeding guidance to teach mothers to recognize and respond appropriately to children's hunger and satiety cues can lead to “normal” weight gain and/or “normal” weight status in children aged ≤2 y compared with children whose mothers did not receive responsive feeding guidance. Moderate evidence from longitudinal cohort studies indicates an association between maternal feeding practices and the child's weight status and/or weight gain, but the direction of effect has not been adequately studied. Restrictive feeding practices are associated with increased weight gain and higher weight status, and pressuring feeding practices are associated with decreased weight gain and lower weight status. Evidence suggests that a mother's feeding practices are related to concerns about her child's body weight. Conclusions This review highlights the importance of the interaction between caregivers and infants and toddlers related to child feeding practices on children's weight outcomes. Research is needed on more diverse populations with consistent methodological app-roaches and objective measures.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) are the cornerstone of US government efforts to promote health and prevent disease through diet and nutrition. The DGA currently provides guidelines for ages ≥ 2 y. In an effort to determine the strength of the evidence to support the inclusion of infants and children from birth to age 24 mo, the partner agencies led by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the USDA Center for Nutrition Program and Policy initiated the project entitled "Evaluating the evidence base to support the inclusion of infants and children from birth to 24 months of age in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans--the B-24 Project." This project represents the first step in the process of applying systematic reviews to the process of deciding whether the evidence is sufficient to include this age group in future editions of the DGA. This supplement includes the B-24 Executive Summary, which describes the B-24 Project and the deliberations of the 4 working groups during the process of developing priority topics for the systematic review, and a research agenda to address the critical gaps. Also included in this supplement issue is an article on the Nutrition Evidence Library methodology for developing systematic review questions and articles from the invited content presenters at the B-24 Prime meeting.

Hypertension is a major risk factor for development of stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and end-stage renal disease. In a systematic review of the evidence published from 2004 to 2009, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) concluded there was moderate evidence of an inverse relationship between the intake of milk and milk products (dairy) and blood pressure. This review synthesizes results from studies published over the past year on the relationship between dairy intake, blood pressure, and hypertension risk. The influence of dairy micronutrients including calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and phosphorous on blood pressure and incident hypertension is examined. Emerging research on bioactive dairy peptides is also reviewed. Lastly, recent evidence on effects of dairy fat content on blood pressure and hypertension risk, and the impact of inclusion of low-fat dairy in dietary patterns is also investigated.