Maternal Diet, Body Composition and Offspring Health
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2025 | Viewed by 1526
Special Issue Editors
2. Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20157 Milan, Italy
Interests: pregnancy; maternal nutrition; perinatal programming; intrauterine growth; placental diseases; maternal immunization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20157 Milan, Italy
Interests: pregnancy; maternal diet; maternal lifestyle; fetal programming; intrauterine growth; placental diseases
2. Department of Mother, Child and Neonate, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
Interests: pregnancy; maternal diet; maternal lifestyle; fetal programming; intrauterine growth; placental diseases
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Maternal diet and body composition significantly impact the pregnancy outcome and the short- and long-term health status of the offspring. During pregnancy, adequate and balanced nutrition is crucial for fetal development, affecting placental function, the growth trajectory and organ development. Maternal body composition, including pre-gestational weight, weight gain and lean/fat mass during pregnancy, also plays a crucial role. Both maternal underweight and obesity may lead to adverse outcomes including gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, preterm birth and higher long-term risk for the offspring. Epigenetics is an emerging science that looks at key mechanisms through which maternal diet and body composition affect offspring health. Nutritional and environmental factors can modify gene expression, potentially leading to long-lasting health consequences in neonates, including an increased risk of non-communicable diseases. In this context, a balanced diet, regular physical activity and appropriate weight management during pregnancy are essential to reduce maternal and fetal complications.
This Special Issue will focus on maternal nutrition and body composition and their impact on the offspring’s health status, as well as strategies to prevent long-term disorders.
We welcome manuscripts on the following topics:
- The association between maternal nutritional intake, health status, body composition, intrauterine development and the pregnancy outcome;
- The association between maternal nutrition and risk of the onset of chronic disease in the adult offspring;
- The impact of maternal nutritional intake, health status and body composition on gene expression, epigenetic mechanisms and the increased risk of non-communicable disease;
- Nutritional interventions to improve feto-maternal health and prevent short- and long-term adverse outcomes.
Submissions that explore aspects of this broad topic, including emerging technologies in the field, are also encouraged. We invite researchers and nutrition experts to submit their original research studies, review articles and communications related to this important health domain.
Prof. Dr. Irene Cetin
Dr. Francesca Parisi
Guest Editors
Dr. Chiara Lubrano
Guest Editor Assistant
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
- pregnancy
- maternal nutrition
- fetal programming
- epigenetics
- lactation and neonatal growth
- offspring health
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