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

BMA Board of ScienceConclusions• Infants have special nutritional requirements because of their rapid growth anddevelopment and vulnerability to infection. Optimal nutrition in infancy is essential fornormal cognitive and physical development and may protect against obesity and chronicdisease in adult life. Many parents need guidance to provide adequate nutrition for theirchildren at this stage of life.• Breast milk is the ideal food for babies in their first few months. Mothers need support inorder to breastfeed successfully. There is consistent evidence of better childhood cognitivedevelopment, and a lower risk of several disease outcomes, including obesity and diabetes,in children and adults who were breastfed rather than formula-fed. It is not known whetherthese effects are causal or reflect the generally healthier lifestyles of the families whosemothers choose to breastfeed.• 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,linear growth and body composition. There is increasing evidence that these influence therisk of developing obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other health outcomes inlater life.• The optimal pattern(s) of infant weight gain in order to minimise the risk of obesity,cardiovascular disease and diabetes is however, not yet known. There is strong evidence thatundernutrition (stunting or wasting) during infancy leads to impaired adult cognitive,physical and economic capacity, even if nutrition improves later in childhood.Early life nutrition and lifelong health 49