Adequate nutrition in the first 2 years of life is essential for both short- and long-term health. Malnutrition in the early years of life increases the risk of later chronic diseases. There is a wealth of studies available within this area of research, and this chapter specifically looks at growth and body composition as outcome measures in countries where obesity and related diseases in later life is a large public health problem.
For this short review, we have included 10 publications on the topic of early nutrition and its effect on growth, body composition, and later obesity. We think these 10 included publications, published during the period of July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, are of special interest and all present findings can shape future research on this topic. We have chosen to focus on 3 key areas in this review; (i) human milk composition, including studies on breast milk minerals, hormones, and free amino acids (FAA) concentrations (4 studies), (ii) protein intake and later growth, including studies on how protein intake in early childhood is associated with body mass index (BMI; 4 studies), and lastly (iii) early infant feeding and later overweight and obesity, including studies on infant breastfeeding and circadian feeding pattern and the association with later overweight and obesity (2 studies).