Nutrition in the First 1000 Days

Dear Colleagues,

A baby’s first 1000 days of life provide a unique window of opportunity.

From conception to two years of age, nutrition plays a vital role in children’s immune function, health, development, and even learning potential—not just at this time, but also into the future. Pregnancy nutrition, breastfeeding, introduction of solids, and exposure to healthy foods are all important nutritional aspects during this time.

Nutrition in pregnancy can affect aspects such as placenta function and birth weight, and may even influence a baby’s later taste preferences. We continue to learn more about the benefits of breastfeeding and how to assist women in achieving their breastfeeding goals. Early childhood nutrition is linked to obesity and some chronic diseases. The first 1000 days are also an important time for the development of the child’s gut microbiome and risk of allergic disease.

This Special Issue seeks papers on topics related to early life nutrition, including conception, pregnancy, infant feeding and child nutrition. By learning more about the opportunity presented by this time period, we can better target interventions to improve children’s futures.

Dr. Therese O’Sullivan
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 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 2500 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.