Nutricia was present, as every year, celebrating 50 years of advanced breast milk research. As part of Nutricia’s commitment to deliver high quality and relevant educational programs, Nutricia organized a Satellite symposium on 23 June, titled Biotics and Lipids in the F1000D: A unique window of opportunity to shape the future.
A total of over 900 attendees viewed the Satellite session live in the room, or attended online. It started with the welcome and introduction by the chair: Prof. Berthold Koletzko. The early stages of life are a period of very rapid growth and development. From the first day of pregnancy until 2 years of age, the so-called “first 1000 days”, the body’s organs undergo fast growth, differentiation and functional maturation. This period of developmental plasticity offers a critical window of opportunity to promote both short- and long-term health.
Nutrition during the first 1000 Days is an important contributor to the development of the gut, intestinal microbiota and immune function. The immune system continues to develop after birth. This development is crucial as infants move from a protected environment in the womb to one where the immune system has to act, adapt and be resilient. The first 1000 Days period is also critical for the development of metabolic function and lays the foundation for lifelong metabolic health. Optimal growth in this period reduces the risk for obesity and associated non-communicable diseases later in life. Therefore, nutrition in early life has the power to influence lifelong health.
Infants and young children need adequate nutrition for physical, metabolic as well as cognitive development. Breastfeeding is the preferred sole source of nutrition during the first 6 months of life, with continued partial breastfeeding thereafter, and supports healthy growth and development.
The next speaker, Prof. Hania Szajewska, presented on Pro-, Pre-, Syn- and Postbiotics in early life: what do we know? The objective of this presentation was to discuss the most recent developments regarding various biotics in early life nutrition. Research gaps and opportunities were presented but it was shown that even if the best biotic-supplemented formulas are developed, they will always remain a compromise; breast milk will remain the best.
Breastfeeding is the natural and optimal way of feeding an infant. Human milk is a complex living liquid providing, among other nutrients, bioactive components; these include human milk oligosaccharides, immune cells, low levels of bacteria and their metabolites, which play a key role in the development of a healthy immune system and in establishing and maintaining a healthy gut microbiota.
Breast is best. However, it has never been the only option. There was, and will always be, a need for human milk substitutes, no matter how successful the promotion of breastfeeding. Currently available infant formulas do not raise safety concerns regarding growth and adverse effects. However, there are differences between breastfed and formula-fed infants with respect to short- and long-term outcomes. Thus, opportunities for further improvement of infant formulas exist. Considering the role the gut microbiota plays in health and diseases, efforts are being made to refine the composition of infant formulas to resemble the functionality of human milk. This includes the addition of biotics such as probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics and postbiotics to infant formulas.
Finally, the Satellite session was closed by Prof Anita Hokken-Koelega talking about the Next generation Lipids: new evidence to support healthy growth and development in the F1000D. Exclusively breastfed infants have the best start in life in terms of growth quality & metabolic development. As such, breastfeeding has been associated with a protective effect against later life obesity and NCDs. Next to biotics, breastmilk is rich in lipids, important for growth, brain and cognitive development as well as gastrointestinal and immune function. In breastmilk, the lipid moiety is comprised of large droplets with a volume-based mode diameter of 4 μm, enveloped by a complex triple-layer membrane mainly consisting of phospholipids, sphingomyelin, membrane-specific proteins, and cholesterol.
Due to this highly complex and unique structure, the breastmilk lipids are digested and absorbed very efficiently. Standard infant formula shows differences in overall fatty acid and lipid composition, the structure of triglycerides as well as the physical properties of its lipid droplets due to usual processing of most infant formulae. This is likely to affect lipid digestion and absorption in infants, and may partially explain the difference in growth and body composition development between breast- and formula fed infants and the subsequent differences in risk for metabolic health complications or disorders in later life.
Danone Nutricia Research has developed a unique concept infant formula with large, milk phospholipid coated lipid droplets (mode diameter 3-5 μm; NUTURIS) (Gallier et al., 2015). NUTURIS brings the structural and functional properties of infant formula closer to those of breastmilk. The safety and efficacy of NUTURIS is evaluated in a clinical study program, investigating growth, body composition, metabolic, cognitive, and other exploratory outcomes. During this ESPGHAN congress, we are presenting the first long term follow up data of the children who participated in one of the clinical studies.
Download the congress report, a comprehensive booklet with the abstracts of the speaker presentations. To find out more, watch the recording of the Nutricia Satellite Symposium at the 54th Annual Meeting of ESPGHAN. Links to these videos can be found in the booklet. The videos are hosted on Danone Nutricia Campus, an educational platform for healthcare professionals, developed and hosted by a non-for-profit foundation led by external medical experts. The mission of the foundation is to advance the field of nutrition through knowledge discovery, scientific insights and medical education for healthcare professionals.
The product information for this area of specialization is intended for healthcare professionals or (carers of) diagnosed patients only, as these products are for use under healthcare professional supervision.
Please click ‘Yes’ if you are a healthcare professional or (carer of) a diagnosed patient, or ‘No’ to be taken to a full list of our products.
The information on this page is intended for healthcare professionals only.
If you aren't a healthcare professional, you can visit the page with general information, by clicking 'I'm not a healthcare professional' below.
