Professor Elvira Verduci talks about complementary feeding as a critical window for shaping future health, emphasizing its role in bridging nutrient gaps beyond six months. She explains the importance of introducing solids between 17 and 26 weeks, noting that earlier introduction may have health risks, while delays may cause deficiencies. She further explains how responsive feeding and parenting styles help build healthy eating habits, while starting before four months may raise obesity risk. Approaches should be tailored to each child’s needs, culture, and family practices to encourage lifelong healthy eating.​

For Healthcare Professionals Only
Nestlé Nutrition Institute

Professor Julie Mennella explores how biological and experiential factors shape infants’ acceptance of complementary foods, beginning with flavor learning in utero through exposure to maternal diet in amniotic fluid and breast milk. She explains that taste and smell are functional before birth, with innate preferences for sweet and umami, aversions to bitter and sour, and an evolving acceptance of salt after four months. She emphasizes on delaying added sugars until after two years, practicing healthy eating within the family, and leveraging early sensory plasticity to foster healthy dietary habits. The discussion highlights that flavor learning is a dynamic, reciprocal process between child and family, highlighting the importance of starting early to shape lifelong food preferences and health outcomes.​

Professor Agnes Leung highlights how cultural, environmental, and dietary factors shape food allergy prevention, combining insights from Eastern and Western perspectives. She notes differences in prevalence, allergen profiles, and anaphylaxis trends, with peanuts and tree nuts noted to be more common in the West, while shellfish and certain local foods predominate in Asia. She discusses both the LEAP and EAT studies, which show that early introduction of allergenic foods, particularly in high-risk infants, can significantly lower allergy risk. She emphasizes the need to tailor prevention strategies to local diets, allergen patterns, and cultural practices, and to update recommendations as new evidence emerges.​

Professor Luis Moreno discusses the important role of complementary feeding in preventingchildhood obesity, highlighting the need for timely introduction to support healthygrowth and reduce long-term obesity risk. The discussion explores how early or delayedintroduction of solids, consumption of high energy-dense foods, and excessive animalprotein can increase adiposity, while nutrient-dense, fiber-rich foods and early vegetableexposure foster healthier habits. The episode further reviews mixed evidence on baby-led weaning, the influence of complementary feeding on gut microbiota, and the needfor parental education to guide portion sizes and food choices. Key preventive strategieswere emphasized including promoting breastfeeding, ensuring balanced nutrient intake,and aligning feeding practices with developmental needs to establish lifelong healthyeating patterns and reduce obesity-related health burdens.​

Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta shares insights on the first 1,000 days from conception to two years, highlighting the links between early growth, optimal nutrition, neurodevelopment, and lifelong potential. This episode delves into the the crucial period of early growth and its impact on long-term cognitive development and overall health. It explores key elements—such as appropriate nutrition and a healthy environment—that supports a child’s optimal growth and neurodevelopment later in life, as well as evidence-based interventions that link maternal and early childhood nutrition to adult health and productivity.

Dr. Berthold Koletzko shares the long-term benefits of maximizing the “window of opportunity” for growth and nutrition in early life, in line with healthy growth trajectories measured through z-scores for length, weight, body fat, metabolic markers, and more. The episode also delves into the initial results of an ongoing clinical trial and the effects of reduced protein intake on toddlerhood and later obesity risk. It also highlights the importance of monitoring weight trends, supporting breastfeeding, and promoting healthy feeding practices to reduce excessive weight gain and lower the risk of metabolic diseases later in life.

Dr. Rosan Meyer shares guidance on defining faltering growth (FG) and provides key updates on the interplay of factors that may cause FG as well as its prevalence across populations. Early identification and targeted intervention through regular monitoring and nutritional support are crucial to improving long-term outcomes. This podcast presents the latest clinical recommendations for proper assessment of growth trends in children to support accurate diagnosis and effective management of faltering growth.

Dr. Tanis Fenton discusses the different genetic and environmental factors to take into consideration when evaluating normal growth in infants and children. A child’s position on a chart does not tell the whole story as nutrition, genetic potential, or body composition influence an individual's normal growth. This episode further emphasizes the need to look beyond standard growth charts and, instead, towards individual assessments and growth patterns measured over time for accurate diagnoses to prevent unnecessary interventions.

Dr. Gianluca Lista examines the relationship between early nutrition and brain development in preterm infants. The discussion summarizes the latest knowledge on human milk and its components, such as HMOs and LCPUFAs, and how these can contribute to neurodevelopmental processes, specifically myelination and grey and white matter brain maturation.​

Dr. Catalina Bazacliu discusses recent studies on bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), focusing on the varied approaches to nutritional management of infants with established BPD and exploring nutritional preventive strategies. She highlights the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in examining the personalized nutrition needs of each individual infant.​

Dr. Georg Gerber gives an overview of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is applied in microbiome research today — a timely topic which includes recent case studies, ethical considerations, challenges, as well as future trends and integration in clinical practice.

Dr. Samantha Rodriguez expounds on nutritional strategies to help mitigate the severity of complications associated with preterm infants, supporting optimal outcomes. She also discusses the protective factors in breast milk and the use of modern technology to advance knowledge in this research area.

Dr. Alexandra Zhernakova expounds on the infant gut virome, discussing the current understanding of its role in infant health and development, along with recent research breakthroughs. This episode also explores how evolving research in this field may impact future clinical practice.

Dr. Andrew Bartko defines the term “Microbiome Science” and explains its importance for human health and wellness. Additionally, the episode discusses the global microbial biodiversity crisis, and how microbiome sequencing may be able to improve patient health in the future. 

Dr. Rodrigo Vazquez defines what Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBIs) are and how the gut microbiota impacts the gut-brain axis. He also shares how these disorders manifest in patients and whether there is evidence that probiotics can help manage DGBIs in infants. 

Dr. Bruno Barreto expounds on the relationship between decreasing microbial diversity and increasing food allergy in the modern world. This episode also dives into interventions to support a healthy gut microbiota in preventing food allergies, such as the important role of breastfeeding.

Dr. Keith Godfrey talks about how maternal nutrition and prenatal factors shape fetal growth and influence long-term offspring health, including cardiovascular, neurobehavioral, and metabolic outcomes. Maternal constraints like body composition, metabolism, and diet quality influence fetal development. The episode emphasizes intervention strategies to improve maternal health before and during pregnancy, reducing chronic disease risks in offspring. It also highlights the critical impact of micronutrient deficiencies during pregnancy on fetal development and later health, independent of birth weight, and calls for targeted policies to enhance preconception and antenatal health.

Dr. Vincent Jaddoe discusses how early-life growth during the preconception, pregnancy, and early childhood, critically impacts long-term cardio-metabolic health. He highlights the lasting effects of adverse fetal exposures and poor growth on cardiovascular outcomes. Using advanced imaging techniques like MRI, Dr. Jaddoe illustrates the impact of childhood obesity on key organ systems, including the heart, liver, and brain. He emphasizes that effective prevention should begin in these early phases, targeting modifiable factors to improve cardiovascular health across the lifespan.

Dr. Oraporn Dumrongwongsiri explains how breastfeeding provides optimal infant nutrition and reduces the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life. She delves into the biological mechanisms behind these protective effects, including the role of breast milk composition, feeding methods, epigenetics, hormonal influences, gut microbiome development, and early shaping of food preferences.

Dr. Berthold Koletzko discusses how optimizing infant and young child feeding reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases. In numerous studies, breast milk’s lower protein content is a proposed mechanism in lowering childhood obesity risk. Reducing protein intake in formula-fed infants can significantly reduce their risk of obesity at school age. Limiting cow’s milk consumption and promoting exclusive breastfeeding help prevent rapid weight gain and obesity in children. These strategies, alongside proper weaning and nutritional education, support optimal growth trajectories and long-term health outcomes.