EarlyNutrition // EU Project
Project description:
Nutrition during early development has an important impact on later health, particularly through greater obesity risk, as demonstrated by FP6 EARNEST. EarlyNutrition explores the current key hypotheses on likely causes and pathways to prevention of early life origins of obesity (specifically adiposity) and associated disorders. We bring extraordinary expertise and study populations of 470,000 individuals to investigate:
• The fuel mediated in utero hypothesis
• The accelerated postnatal weight gain hypothesis
• The mismatch hypothesis.
Scientific and technical expertise in placental biology, epigenetics and metabolomics will provide understanding at the cellular and molecular level, and refined strategies for intervention in pregnancy and early post natal life to prevent obesity.
Using existing cohort studies, ongoing and novel intervention studies and a basic science programme, we will provide the scientific foundations for evidence based recommendations for optimal EarlyNutrition that incorporate long-term health outcomes, focusing on 4 Target Groups: women before pregnancy; pregnant women; infants (incl. breastfeeding); young children.
Evidence is produced from animal and placental studies (Theme 1; T1), prospective cohort studies (T2), and randomised controlled trials in pregnant women and infants (T3). T4 covers scientific strategic integration, recommendation development and dissemination, including systematic reviews and behaviour change approaches.
A strong multi-disciplinary team of international leaders in the field, including collaborators from USA and Australia, achieves balance and complementarity.
The project’s impact comprises definitive evidence on early nutrition effects on health, enhanced EU and global policies, major economic benefits through obesity prevention and value-added nutritional products, and practical recommendations on optimal nutrition in target groups. Wide dissemination will be achieved through active engagement with stakeholders.

Quick overview:
Project References: 289346
Coordinator: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Germany
Status: Execution
Start: 01.02.2012
End: 31.01.2017
Total Cost: EUR 11,558,996.87
EU contribution: EUR 8,962,771 PROJECT WEBSITE CORDIS LINK
biolution contribution:
Implementation: Dissemination


Partners / Collaborations
The University of Adelaide, AU
Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, AU
biolution GmbH, AT
Medical University of Graz, AT
Free University of Brussels, BE
University of Copenhagen, DK
Statens Serum Institute, DK
Beneo GmbH, DE
Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, DE
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR
University College Cork, National University of Ireland, IE
University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, IE
University of Milan, IT
Danone Research BV, NL
Erasmus University Medical Center, NL
Leiden University Medical Center, NL
Nizo Food Research BV, NL
ServiceXS BV, NL
University Medical Centre of Amsterdam, NL
Norwegian Institute of Public Health, NO
Medical University of Warsaw, PL
The Children´s Memorial Health Institute, PL
Abbott Laboratories, ES
University of Granada, ES
University of Murcia, ES
University Rovira I Virgili, ES
The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, UK
King’s College London, UK
Medscinet UK LTD, UK
The University of Nottingham, UK
University of Southampton, UK
The Regents of the University of California, US
Case Western Reserve University Corporation, Cleveland, US
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc Corp, US
The University of Texas System, US


































