The Early Nutrition Programming Project (EARNEST): 5 y of successful multidisciplinary collaborative research

Abstract

Differences in nutritional experiences during sensitive periods in early life, both before and after birth, can program a person's future development, metabolism, and health. A better scientific understanding of early nutrition programming holds enormous potential for implementing preventive strategies to enhance individuals' longterm health, well-being, and performance. This understanding could reduce costs of health care and social services and may enhance the wealth of societies. The Early Nutrition Programming Project (EARNEST) brought together a multidisciplinary team of international scientists and leaders in key areas of the early nutrition programming field from 40 major research centers across 16 European countries. The project had a total budget of 16.5 million Euros and was funded by the European Communities under the Sixth Framework Program for Research and Technical Development and coordinated by the Children's Hospital at Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. The integrated program of work combined experimental studies in humans, prospective observational studies, and mechanistic animal work, including physiologic studies, cell culture models, and molecular biology techniques. The project lasted from April 2005 to October 2010. After the end of the project, the Early Nutrition Academy (http://www.early-nutrition.org) continues to serve as a platform for the exchange of information, scientific collaboration, and training activities in the area of programming. This article highlights some of the scientific results, achievements, and efforts of EARNEST.Am J Clin Nutr 2011;94(suppl):1749S-53S.

Perinatal and lifestyle factors mediate the association between maternal education and preschool children's weight status: the ToyBox study

“…Regarding the perinatal factors examined in this study, maternal prepregnancy overweight/ obesity, excess gestational weight gain, maternal smoking during pregnancy, increased birth weight for gestational age, and rapid weight gain in the first 6 mo of life were significantly associated with preschoolers' overweight/obesity. The associations reported in the present study between perinatal factors and children's overweight/obesity have been confirmed by other studies but mainly for school-aged children and adolescents, whereas the relevant data on preschool children are limited [4,[23][24][25]. We also did not find any significant association between exclusive breastfeeding and overweight/obesity, which is in line with the systematic review of systematic reviews by Patro-Gołąb et al [26] and indicates that in addition to feeding practices during infancy (i.e., breastfeeding or formula feeding) there are also other EBRBs occurring after the initiation of complementary feeding that may exert an equally significant effect on children's weight status.…”

Early Influences of Nutrition on Postnatal Growth

“…We tested the Early Protein Hypothesis in a randomized clinical trial, the European Childhood Obesity Project [24] performed as part of a European Commission-funded research collaboration [68]. This multicentric RCT was set up in study centers in five European countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain).…”

Analisis Faktor Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Konsumsi ikan pada Wanita Dewasa Indonesia

“…Khusus wanita, hamil pemenuhan gizi secara optimal yang dilakukan ibu selama masa 1000 hari pertama kehidupan (sejak janin dalam kandungan sampai berusia dua tahun), selain memberi kesempatan bagi anak untuk hidup lebih lama, lebih sehat, dan lebih produktif, juga menurunkan risiko anak menderita penyakit degeneratif di usia dewasa. Status gizi dimulai dari wanita dewasa yang berperan penting dalam menyiapkan generasi selanjutnya (Koletzko et al 2011).…”