Early Life Nutrition and Lifelong Health - Derbyshire Local Medical ...

BMA Board of Science• The effects of the quality of complementary feeding on current and later health in countriessuch as the UK are largely unknown. There are wide variations in infant size, weight gain, lineargrowth and body composition. There is increasing evidence that these influence the risk ofdeveloping obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other health outcomes in later life. Theoptimal pattern(s) of infant weight gain in order to minimise the risk of obesity, cardiovasculardisease and diabetes is, however, not yet known. There is strong evidence that undernutrition(stunting or wasting) during infancy leads to impaired adult cognitive, physical and economiccapacity, even if nutrition improves later in childhood.Chapter 4• Many young women have diets of poor quality and inadequate nutritional status. Less healthydiets are more common among women of low educational attainment, and among women whohave low incomes and who are food insecure. Although evidence of effective interventions toimprove the diets of young women is limited, this does not mean that the goal should not bepursued vigorously. Both nutrition education and counselling have been shown to improvewomen’s nutrition knowledge and behaviour.• Breastfeeding rates are low in the UK, and it is less common among disadvantaged women.Interventions that educate women about the benefits and practice of breastfeeding, and thatpromote baby friendly policies and practice, are effective at promoting the initiation andprolonging the duration of breastfeeding.• Current studies of complementary feeding [weaning] show wide variations in practice in the UK.There are few studies of interventions to influence the timing and nutritional content ofcomplementary feeding in developed countries.• Infant diet is strongly linked to mother’s diet – suggesting that interventions to improve the dietsof young women will also have direct consequences for children’s diets.• Effective interventions are needed to improve the nutrition of young women of childbearing age.Such interventions may influence the way in which mothers feed their children as well asinfluencing the diets of women themselves. They will therefore have beneficial health effectsacross generations.• Efforts to encourage the initiation and to prolong the duration of breastfeeding need to continueand be extended. The ten steps to successful breastfeeding and the Baby Friendly HospitalInitiative guidelines should become a minimum standard of care. Action is also needed to improvethe opportunities for women to breastfeed in public places and to support continuedbreastfeeding in women who return to work.• The Healthy Start scheme provides support for eligible women and children through provision offood vouchers and vitamin supplements, and needs to be promoted widely. Its impact on thenutrition of mothers and young children should be evaluated at a national level.• Other gaps in the evidence should be addressed, including interventions to supportbreastfeeding mothers in the workplace and interventions to optimise the timing and content ofcomplementary feeding.4Early life nutrition and lifelong health