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Nutrients and Energy Consumption during Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: Within or beyond Human Milk

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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition in Women".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2022) | Viewed by 17301

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Agnieszka Bzikowska-Jura

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Guest Editor

Department of Clinical Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: body composition; breastfeeding; human milk composition; maternal diet

Dr. Aleksandra Wesołowska

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Guest Editor

Laboratory of Human Milk and Lactation Research at Regional Human Milk Bank in Holy Family Hospital, Faculty of Health Science, Department of Neonatology, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: breastfeeding; donor milk; high pressure processing; holder pasteurization; human milk; newborn

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is well documented that maternal nutrition from preconception through to lactation has both short- and long-term health effects on the mother and child. While requirements for many nutrients increase in pregnancy and lactation, and some dietary changes are required, many mothers misinterpret these recommendations and make “eating for two” as necessary and healthy.

Concerning human milk, its composition is dynamic and can vary according to many physiological and maternal factors. Some of these factors (e.g., 24 h variations, lactation stage, time point in breastfeeding session) are better investigated than others. For this reason, we encourage scholars to bridge the gap between maternal nutrition/nutritional status and human milk composition.

In this Special Issue, we would like to bring readers closer to the state-of-the-art in the field of maternal nutrition by gathering papers that cover several aspects of nutrition science that impact maternal and infants’ outcomes and human milk composition. Original research articles and reviews (systematic reviews and meta-analyses) are greatly welcome.

Dr. Agnieszka Bzikowska-Jura
Dr. Aleksandra Wesołowska
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

breastfeeding
nutrient requirements
energy demand
energy expenditure
human milk composition

Published Papers (5 papers)

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10 pages, 8323 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Artificial Sweeteners in Breast Milk: A Clinical Investigation with a Kinetic Perspective

by Sofie Stampe, Magnus Leth-Møller, Eva Greibe, Elke Hoffmann-Lücke, Michael Pedersen and Per Ovesen

Nutrients 2022, 14(13), 2635; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu14132635 - 25 Jun 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2833

Abstract

Artificial sweeteners (ASs) are calorie-free chemical substances used instead of sugar to sweeten foods and drinks. Pregnant women with obesity or diabetes are often recommended to substitute sugary products with ASs to prevent an increase in body weight. However, some recent controversy surrounding ASs relates to concerns about the risk of obesity caused by a variety of metabolic changes, both in the mother and the offspring. This study addressed these concerns and investigated the biodistribution of ASs in plasma and breast milk of lactating women to clarify whether ASs can transfer from mother to offspring through breast milk. We recruited 49 lactating women who were provided with a beverage containing four different ASs (acesulfame-potassium, saccharin, cyclamate, and sucralose). Blood and breast milk samples were collected before and up to six hours after consumption. The women were categorized: BMI < 25 (n = 20), BMI > 27 (n = 21) and type 1 diabetes (n = 8). We found that all four ASs were present in maternal plasma and breast milk. The time-to-peak was 30–120 min in plasma and 240–300 min in breast milk. Area under the curve (AUC) ratios in breast milk were 88.9% for acesulfame-potassium, 38.9% for saccharin, and 1.9% for cyclamate. We observed no differences in ASs distributions between the groups. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrients and Energy Consumption during Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: Within or beyond Human Milk)

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15 pages, 721 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Diet Quality during Pregnancy on Gestational Weight Gain and Selected Adipokines—Results of a German Cross-Sectional Study

by Christina Ehrhardt, Clara Deibert, Anne Flöck, Waltraut M. Merz, Ulrich Gembruch, Adeline Bockler, Jörg Dötsch, Christine Joisten and Nina Ferrari

Nutrients 2022, 14(7), 1515; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu14071515 - 05 Apr 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2830

Abstract

While nutrition during pregnancy is critical for the health of both mother and child, little is known about the diet quality of women during pregnancy, its correlation with gestational weight gain (GWG)/body composition, and chosen maternal adipokines. Therefore, we evaluated the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) of 110 pregnant women and analyzed its correlation with GWG/body composition, physical activity, leptin, resistin, adiponectin, and interleukin 6 (IL-6), respectively. Diet quality was medium in 63% of women, characterized by a high intake of animal-based products. HEI was negatively influenced by pre-pregnancy obesity (β = −0.335, p = 0.004), and positively influenced by higher age (>35 yrs., β = 0.365, p ≤ 0.001), upper arm circumference (β = 0.222, p = 0.052), and total activity during the third trimester (β = 0.258, p = 0.008). GWG was associated with pre-pregnancy obesity (β = −0.512, p ≤ 0.001), thigh circumference (β = 0.342, p = 0.007), upper arm fat area (β = 0.208, p = 0.092), and maternal age group (>35 yrs. β = −0.166, p = 0.082), but not with HEI. Leptin and IL-6 displayed associations with variables representative of body composition, such as pre-pregnancy BMI, thigh circumference, upper arm fat area, and upper arm circumference, but were not influenced by HEI. Neither were adiponectin and resistin. IL-6 was also associated with total activity. In conclusion, GWG, leptin, and IL-6 were influenced by nutritional status (body composition/pre-pregnancy BMI), not by maternal diet. Physical activity level also had an impact on IL-6. Thus, efforts should be intensified to improve diet quality and participation in sports before and during pregnancy, particularly in overweight or obese women. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrients and Energy Consumption during Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: Within or beyond Human Milk)

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15 pages, 582 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Attitudes of Polish Women towards Breastfeeding Based on the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS)

by Agnieszka Bień, Bożena Kulesza-Brończyk, Monika Przestrzelska, Grażyna Iwanowicz-Palus and Dorota Ćwiek

Nutrients 2021, 13(12), 4338; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu13124338 - 30 Nov 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3211

Abstract

Background: The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS), which is used for the assessment of attitudes towards breastfeeding, has been found to be reliable and valid in a number of countries, but has not yet been psychometrically tested in Polish women. The purpose of the study was to report on the cultural adaptation of the IIFAS to Polish settings and on its validation, to evaluate the breastfeeding attitudes in Polish women who recently gave birth, and to identify the determinants of these attitudes. Methods: The study was performed in a group of 401 women in their first postpartum days. Results: Cronbach’s α for the scale was 0.725. Discriminative power coefficients of all questionnaire items were higher than 0.2. Subscales were strongly correlated with the total score, with a correlation coefficient of 0.803 for the “favorable toward breastfeeding” subscale (p < 0.001), and 0.803 for the “favorable toward formula feeding” subscale (p < 0.05). For the item “A mother who occasionally drinks alcohol should not breastfeed her baby”, the factor loading did not reach the criterion value, and so the item was not included in further analyses. The mean IIFAS score was 63.12 (±7.34). Conclusions: The Polish version of the IIFAS is a reliable and appropriate measure of women’s attitudes towards infant feeding in Polish settings, with acceptable psychometric properties and construct validity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrients and Energy Consumption during Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: Within or beyond Human Milk)

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13 pages, 454 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dietary Patterns of Breastfeeding Mothers and Human Milk Composition: Data from the Italian MEDIDIET Study

by Francesca Bravi, Matteo Di Maso, Simone R. B. M. Eussen, Carlo Agostoni, Guglielmo Salvatori, Claudio Profeti, Paola Tonetto, Pasqua Anna Quitadamo, Iwona Kazmierska, Elisabetta Vacca, Adriano Decarli, Bernd Stahl, Enrico Bertino, Guido E. Moro, Monica Ferraroni and on behalf of the MEDIDIET Working Group

Nutrients 2021, 13(5), 1722; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu13051722 - 19 May 2021

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5102

Abstract

(1) Background: Several studies have reported associations between maternal diet in terms of single foods or nutrients and human milk compounds, while the overall role of maternal diet and related dietary patterns has rarely been investigated. (2) Methods: Between 2012 and 2014, we enrolled 300 healthy Italian mothers, who exclusively breastfed their infant. During a hospital visit at 6 weeks postpartum, a sample of freshly expressed foremilk was collected and information on maternal dietary habits in the postpartum period was obtained through an interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire. We applied principal component factor analysis to selected nutrients in order to identify maternal dietary patterns, and assessed correlations in human milk macronutrients and fatty acids across levels of dietary patterns. (3) Results: Five dietary patterns were identified, named “Vitamins, minerals and fibre”, “Proteins and fatty acids with legs”, “Fatty acids with fins”, “Fatty acids with leaves”, “Starch and vegetable proteins”. These dietary patterns were correlated with some milk components, namely fatty acids, and in particular ω-3 and its subcomponents. (4) Conclusions: This study showed that overall maternal dietary habits during breastfeeding may influence human milk composition, suggesting the importance of adequate maternal nutrition during lactation not only for the mother herself but also to provide the infant with milk containing adequate amount and quality of nutrients for a balanced nutrition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrients and Energy Consumption during Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: Within or beyond Human Milk)

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18 pages, 2043 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Century Wide Changes in Macronutrient Levels in Indian Mothers’ Milk: A Systematic Review

by Deepti Khanna, Menaka Yalawar, Gaurav Verma and Shavika Gupta

Nutrients 2022, 14(7), 1395; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu14071395 - 27 Mar 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2377

Abstract

The purpose of this systematic review was to understand Indian mothers’ milk composition and report changes in it over the past 100 years. A review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA and registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022299224). All records published between 1921 and 2021 were identified by searching databases Google Scholar, ResearchGate, PubMed, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. All observational, interventional, or supplementation studies reporting macronutrients (protein, fat, lactose) in milk of Indian mothers, delivering term infants, were included. Publications on micronutrients, preterm, and methods were excluded. Milk was categorized into colostrum, transitional, and mature. In all, 111 records were identified, of which 34 were included in the final review. Fat ranged from 1.83 to 4.49 g/100 mL, 2.6 to 5.59 g/100 mL, and 2.77 to 4.78 g/100 mL in colostrum, transitional, and mature milk, respectively. The protein was higher in colostrum (1.54 to 8.36 g/100 mL) as compared to transitional (1.08 to 2.38 g/100 mL) and mature milk (0.87 to 2.33 g/100 mL). Lactose was lower in colostrum (4.5–6.47 g/100 mL) as compared to transitional (4.8–7.37 g/100 mL) and mature milk ranges (6.78–7.7 g/100 mL). The older studies (1950–1980) reported higher fat and protein in colostrum as compared to subsequent time points. There were variations in maternal nutritional status, diet, socioeconomic status, and regions along with study design specific differences of time or methods of milk sampling and analysis. Additionally, advancements in methods over time make it challenging to interpret time trends. The need for conducting well-designed, multicentric studies on nutrient composition of Indian mother’s milk using standardized methods of sampling and estimation for understanding the role of various associated factors cannot be undermined. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrients and Energy Consumption during Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: Within or beyond Human Milk)

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