Maternal and Child Nutrition: From Pregnancy to Early Life
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 March 2026 | Viewed by 65
Special Issue Editors
Interests: human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs); pregnancy; maternal metabolism; gestational diabetes mellitus; maternal metabolic and cardiovascular health outcomes; pregnancy and early life microbiome; glycobiology; human milk and lactation
Interests: fetal programming; metabolic derangements in pregnancy; gestational diabetes; epigenetic modifications; cellular function; endothelial biology; endothelial progenitor cells; early life cardiovascular and metabolic risk; neonatal adiposity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Optimal nutrition during pregnancy and early life plays a critical role in shaping both immediate and long-term health outcomes for mother and child. This Special Issue of Nutrients invites original research and comprehensive reviews that explore the complex interplay between maternal nutrition, pregnancy-related metabolic adaptations, and the developmental programming of fetal and neonatal health.
We welcome contributions exploring how maternal diet, metabolic conditions, and pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders impact fetal development, neonatal outcomes, and long-term risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Particular emphasis will be placed on mechanisms of placental function, maternal metabolic and cardiovascular adaptations, and how these influence neonatal body composition, including early-onset adiposity.
This Special Issue will also highlight the role of human milk components, particularly human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), in shaping infant metabolism, immunity, and the gut microbiome.
Studies addressing early-life nutritional programming, biomarkers of metabolic health, and interventions to optimize outcomes for at-risk pregnancies are especially welcome.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Maternal nutrition and dietary interventions during pregnancy and lactation;
- Metabolic and cardiovascular adaptations in pregnancy;
- Placental function and nutrient transfer;
- Gestational diabetes, obesity, and other pregnancy-related metabolic disorders;
- Nutritional and metabolic programming of fetal and neonatal health;
- Neonatal adiposity and early markers of cardiometabolic risk;
- Human milk composition and function, including human milk oligosaccharides;
- Translational and interventional studies to optimize maternal and child nutrition.
By spanning the continuum from pregnancy to early infancy, this Special Issue aims to deepen our understanding of maternal and child nutrition as a foundation for lifelong health.
Dr. Evelyn Jantscher-Krenn
Dr. Ursula Hiden
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. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2900 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
- maternal nutrition
- pregnancy metabolism
- developmental programming
- gestational diabetes
- maternal obesity
- neonatal adiposity
- human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs)
- early-life nutrition
- placental function
- cardiometabolic health
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