Maternal Nutrition and Its Effect on Offspring Growth

Dear Colleagues,

For this Special Issue of Nutrients, we would like to bring together papers focusing on the topic of the influence of maternal nutrition and fetal health and growth. Normal fetal growth depends on the genetic background, endocrine milieu, and an appropriate supply of oxygen and nutrients. Abnormal fetal growth is associated with alterations to placental nutrient transporter activity, and these changes may contribute directly to intrauterine growth restriction or fetal overgrowth. According to the theory of “early life programming”, environmental factors and lifestyle during pregnancy determine the risk of developing chronic diseases later in life and also influence lifelong health in offspring. Pregnancy is a critical window of opportunity to provide dietetic habits that are beneficial for fetal health. Each stage of fetal growth is dependent on appropriate maternal nutrient transfer, so a balanced diet is essential to avoid fetal complications and to maintain an adequate environment for optimal fetal development. Maternal undernutrition and overnutrition have adverse effects on fetal health growth. Even in the absence of malnutrition, maternal diet during pregnancy is paramount in achieving appropriate fetal growth and development. Moreover, different nutrients are able to influence and modify the epigenetic pattern in the mother and the fetus during pregnancy, which is the most sensitive period for epigenetic changes that will persist in adult life. 

Maternal diet during pregnancy may also influence the development of the infant gut microbiome through vertical transfer of maternal microbes to infants during delivery and breastfeeding. Therefore, the microbiome modulates the inflammatory mechanisms related to physiological and pathological processes that are involved in perinatal progress, and it may influence the susceptibility to infections and diseases. 

Dr. Giorgia Sebastiani
Guest Editor

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• newborn
• nutrition
• pregnancy
• epigenetic pattern
• microbiota
• target micronutrients
• Intrauterine growth restriction