NutriBrain: protocol for a randomised, double-blind, controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a nutritional product on brain integrity in preterm infants.

Background: The gut microbiota and the brain are connected through different mechanisms. Bacterial colonisation of the gut plays a substantial role in normal brain development, providing opportunities for nutritional neuroprotective interventions that target the gut microbiome. Preterm infants are at risk for brain injury, especially white matter injury, mediated by inflammation and infection.

A priori and a posteriori derived dietary patterns in infancy and cardiometabolic health in childhood: The role of body composition.

Background & Aims: Cardiometabolic risk has its origins in early life. However, it is unclear whether diet during early childhood is associated with cardiometabolic health, and what the role is of obesity. We aimed to study whether overall diet during early childhood is associated with cardiometabolic health and to examine if difference in body composition explain this association.

Plasma fatty acid patterns during pregnancy and child's growth, body composition, and cardiometabolic health: The Generation R Study.

Background: Exposure to different concentrations of fatty acids during fetal life may affect growth and metabolism. However, most studies examined individual fatty acids, whereas concentrations highly correlate and may interact with each other. We aimed to evaluate patterns of plasma fatty acids during pregnancy and their associations with growth, body composition, and cardiometabolic health of the 6-year-old offspring.

25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations during fetal life and bone health in children aged 6 years: a population-based prospective cohort study.

Background: 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations during fetal life might have long-lasting effects on skeletal development, but results from previous studies are inconsistent. We investigated the associations of maternal and fetal 25(OH)D concentrations with childhood bone health.

Methods: In a prospective multiethnic population-based cohort study, embedded within the Generation R Study (Rotterdam, Netherlands), pregnant women living in the study area with an expected delivery date between April 1, 2002, and Jan 1, 2006, were eligible for participation in the study at our research centre in the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital.

The Influence of Meteorological Factors and Atmospheric Pollutants on the Risk of Preterm Birth.

Atmospheric pollutants and meteorological conditions are suspected to be causes of preterm birth. We aimed to characterize their possible association with the risk of preterm birth (defined as birth occurring before 37 completed gestational weeks). We pooled individual data from 13 birth cohorts in 11 European countries (71,493 births from the period 1994-2011, European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE)).