Early-Life Nutrition and Health Trajectories: A Focus on Neurodevelopment and Metabolism
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 March 2026 | Viewed by 838
Special Issue Editors
Interests: nutrition; maternal; pregnancy; childhood; adiposity; environmental health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: pediatrics; neonatology; prematurity; neonatal feeding and nutrition; peptides and hormones involved in neonatal metabolism; neonatal infections; neurodevelopment; insulin resistance; metabolism; glucose metabolism; nutrition; lipid metabolism; metabolic diseases; fat; abdominal obesity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
There is an emerging literature highlighting the importance of a nutritious diet to optimize child growth and development, even from preconception and during pregnancy. Optimal maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy has a significant role in fetal development and has been associated with favorable birth outcomes and healthy infant growth. After birth, children continue to grow, and certain organs (e.g., the brain) undergo significant development until adulthood. While good nutrition is essential throughout life, it is especially critical during key developmental windows to support long-term health.
Current research underscores the importance of optimal nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life for promoting the well-being of maternal and child health. However, there remains a need for further research into the long-term benefits of early life nutrition on health outcomes extending into childhood and adulthood. Establishing both optimal nutrient intake and healthy dietary habits during sensitive windows of development is vital. The long-term effect may influence the areas of growth, metabolism, and neurodevelopment. Therefore, the role of nutrition in preventing adverse health outcomes long-term, mitigating the impact of environmental exposures and toxicants, and supporting fetal and infant metabolic health and neurodevelopment is a critical area that warrants further exploration.
This Special Issue will include manuscripts focusing on the role of nutrition in fetal and child metabolic health and neurodevelopment, and its long-term health effects. Specifically, it will address the importance of nutrition in fetal programming, disease prevention, therapeutic potential, and the promotion of improved long-term health outcomes. This Special Issue welcomes (but is not limited to) original research articles from epidemiological studies and review articles. The content may be useful for researchers aiming to advance the field, and for nutritionists and clinical practitioners involved in research translation.
Dr. Katherine Svensson
Dr. Tania Siahanidou
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 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
- nutrition
- growth and development
- lifespan
- child
- prenatal nutrition
- fetal programming
- malnutrition
- health promotion
- mitigation
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