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Children
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Infant and Early Childhood Nutrition
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Infant and Early Childhood Nutrition

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Global and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2025 | Viewed by 3602

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maria Elena Capra

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Guest Editor
Pediatrics and Neonatology Unit, Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, 29121 Piacenza, Italy
Interests: lipid metabolism; cardiovascular disease prevention; nutrition; childhood metabolic diseases; feeding disorders and nutrition in inborn errors of metabolism; nutrition in premature babies
Dr. Giacomo Biasucci

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Guest Editor
1. Pediatrics and Neonatology Unit, Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, 29121 Piacenza, Italy
2. Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43126 Parma, Italy
Interests: infant and pediatric nutrition; inborn errors of metabolism; feeding and eating disorders of childhood; pediatric dyslipidemia; pediatric gut microbiota; pediatric food allergy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a new Special Issue entitled “Infant and Early Childhood Nutrition” in Children, a peer-reviewed scientific journal indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). The latest released impact factor for this journal is 2.4 (Journal Citation Report, 2022 Edition).

Nutrition is a milestone in the development of infants and children, especially in critical developmental stages such as breastfeeding and complementary feeding. Nutrition is an epigenetic factor that can modify the natural history of numerous non-communicable diseases. Moreover, nutrition in critical development stages can also facilitate taste development and food-related behavior.

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles presenting quantitative or qualitative data, as well as reviews addressing nutritional issues in infancy and early childhood.

Dr. Maria Elena Capra
Dr. Giacomo Biasucci
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nutrition
  • infancy
  • early childhood
  • prevention
  • breastfeeding
  • complementary feeding

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 644 KiB  
Article
Late Preterm Newborns: Breastfeeding and Complementary Feeding Practices
by Ieva Dijokienė, Raminta Žemaitienė and Dalia Stonienė
Children 2024, 11(4), 401; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11040401 - 28 Mar 2024
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Abstract
Background: The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with successful breastfeeding in late preterm infants (LPIs) and explore the initiation of complementary feeding; Methods: Prospective cohort study was conducted of infants born at 34+0 to 36+6 weeks gestational [...] Read more.
Background: The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with successful breastfeeding in late preterm infants (LPIs) and explore the initiation of complementary feeding; Methods: Prospective cohort study was conducted of infants born at 34+0 to 36+6 weeks gestational age in the Hospital of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Clinics during 2020–2021. Families were followed up until the infants reached 12 months of age. Average breastfeeding initial time, average breastfeeding duration time, prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and average solid-food feeding initiation time were examined. The correlations among factors that might affect breastfeeding rates were calculated using the chi-square test (p < 0.05); Results: In our study with 222 eligible participants, we observed a statistically significant delay in breastfeeding initiation only in the 34+0+6 gestational age group (p < 0.001). At discharge, the 36+0+6 group exhibited a significantly higher exclusive breastfeeding rate (p < 0.001). Over the first year, breastfeeding rates varied, with no correlation found between duration of exclusive breastfeeding and gestational age. Initial solid-food feeding times were similar across groups, and all infants were introduced to vegetables first; Conclusions: Vaginal delivery, skin-to-skin contact after birth, early rooming-in, and breastfeeding within 2 h after birth statistically significantly causes earlier breastfeeding initiation and longer duration of breastfeeding in LPIs. All infants began solid-food feeding at an average age of 5 months, with vegetables being the primary food choice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infant and Early Childhood Nutrition)
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21 pages, 1774 KiB  
Article
Acceptability and Feasibility of Maternal Mental Health Assessment When Managing Small, Nutritionally At-Risk Infants Aged < 6 Months: A Key Informant Interview Study
by Natalie Mee, Mubarek Abera and Marko Kerac
Children 2024, 11(2), 209; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11020209 - 06 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1111
Abstract
Maternal mental health (MMH) conditions and infant malnutrition are both major global public health concerns. Despite a well-established link between the two, many nutrition programmes do not routinely consider MMH. New World Health Organization (WHO) malnutrition guidelines do, however, emphasise MMH. To inform [...] Read more.
Maternal mental health (MMH) conditions and infant malnutrition are both major global public health concerns. Despite a well-established link between the two, many nutrition programmes do not routinely consider MMH. New World Health Organization (WHO) malnutrition guidelines do, however, emphasise MMH. To inform guideline rollout, we aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of MMH assessments in nutrition programmes in low-resource settings. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with international key informants who work on nutrition programmes or MMH research. Interview transcripts were coded using subthemes derived from the key points discussed. The benefits and risks were highlighted. These included ethical dilemmas of asking about MMH if local treatment services are suboptimal. Commonly reported challenges included governance, staff training and finance. Community and programme staff perceptions of MMH were primarily negative across the different settings. Many points were raised for improvements and innovations in practice, but fundamental developments were related to governance, care pathways, advocacy, training, funding and using existing community networks. Future implementation research is needed to understand whether assessment is safe/beneficial (as it is in other settings) to promote MMH screening. Current service providers in low-resource settings can undertake several steps, as recommended in this paper, to improve the care offered to mothers and infants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infant and Early Childhood Nutrition)
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Review

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11 pages, 256 KiB  
Review
The Future for the Children of Tomorrow: Avoiding Salt in the First 1000 Days
by Giorgia Mazzuca, Silvia Artusa, Angelo Pietrobelli, Giuseppe Di Cara, Giorgio Piacentini and Luca Pecoraro
Children 2024, 11(1), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11010098 - 14 Jan 2024
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Abstract
It is widely known that optimal nutrition in the first 1000 days of life positively impacts the child’s development throughout adulthood. In this setting, salt should not be added to complementary feeding. In developed countries, salt intake is generally higher than recommended for [...] Read more.
It is widely known that optimal nutrition in the first 1000 days of life positively impacts the child’s development throughout adulthood. In this setting, salt should not be added to complementary feeding. In developed countries, salt intake is generally higher than recommended for children. Excessive salt intake is the major determinant of hypertension and is associated with several cardiovascular outcomes. Therefore, pediatricians have a key role in raising awareness among parents to avoid salt consumption in the first 1000 days of life to ensure better health for their children. Starting from a review of the literature published in PubMed/MedLine regarding the short- and long-term consequences of salt consumption during the first 1000 days of life, our comprehensive review aims to analyze the beneficial effects of avoiding salt at such a vulnerable stage of life as the first 1000 days. Obesity, hypertension, increased salt sensitivity, high sweet drink consumption, increased mortality, and morbidity persisting in adult age represent the principal consequences of a higher salt intake during the first 1000 days of life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infant and Early Childhood Nutrition)
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