Lactational Programming: The Impact of Maternal Nutrition and Breastfeeding on Offspring Development
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition in Women".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 September 2026 | Viewed by 164
Editors
Interests: metabolic disorders; neonatology; reproductive health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: metabolic disorders; reproductive health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Nutrients is pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue dedicated to exploring the critical role of maternal nutrition and breastfeeding in shaping offspring health, growth, and developmental outcomes. This Special Issue will highlight cutting-edge clinical, translational and basic research and reviews addressing the biological, behavioral, and environmental influences that connect maternal diet, breast milk and early feeding practices to child health trajectories.
We invite researchers, clinicians, and public health professionals to contribute original research articles, systematic reviews, and commentaries examining topics such as the following:
- The influence of maternal diet and biology during lactation on breast milk volume and composition;
- The impact of human milk and breastfeeding on infant development;
- Breast milk composition and its effect on immunity, cognition, and metabolism: Role of macronutrients, HMO’s, fatty acids, and immunoglobulins;
- Impact of breastmilk on infant microbiome;
- The effect of breastfeeding patterns (Paired vs Alternate Breastfeeding, Scheduled vs On-demand Feeding);
- Impact of breastfeeding vs bottle feeding, human milk vs formula feeding on child growth and development;
- Variation of commercial infant formula composition and whether the differences are clinically significant;
- Nutritional interventions and policies supporting optimal maternal and infant health;
- How to assess newborn milk intake and breast milk composition;
- When is milk volume not enough? Factors which influence milk production;
- Long-term health outcomes linked to early-life nutrition and breastfeeding practices.
Prof. Dr. Michael G. Ross
Dr. Mina Desai
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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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
- lactation
- breastfeeding
- maternal nutrition
- breast milk composition
- infant development
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