Advances in Maternal Diet and Diet-Related Lifestyles with Maternal and Child Health

Dear Colleagues,

The maternal nutritional status around the time of pregnancy (e.g., before, during, and after) affects numerous health outcomes for both mothers and babies. Increasing evidence suggests that adherence to a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet during and beyond pregnancy, is associated with reduced risks of adverse offspring birth outcomes and abnormal childhood growth (e.g., wasting, stunting, overweight, and obesity). The relationship between the maternal diet and a child’s health outcomes is often based on a single or a few food items or nutrients. Moreover, dietary patterns can be used to provide a more complete assessment of the maternal diet. Some research highlights the potential benefits of adopting healthy dietary patterns or optimizing multiple lifestyle behaviors to prevent adverse maternal and child health outcomes. In addition, the maternal diet can be influenced by and interact with other lifestyle measures, such as physical activities, sleep, substance use, stress, and socialization. However, there is a need for more studies on diverse populations to strengthen existing findings and enable the drawing of strong conclusions.

This Special Issue will include manuscripts focusing on the latest research, both human and animal, examining the role of the maternal diet and/or other related lifestyle aspects in subsequent maternal and child health outcomes. The presented materials are the result of the international scientific cooperation of experts in these issues and may be useful for clinical practitioners and inspire further innovative research.

Dr. Xiaozhong Wen
Dr. Todd C. Rideout
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 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. 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.