Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Association between first trimester maternal nutritional score and bir...
Coordinator
Development of an ONFOODS cohort (including relevant target groups along the lifecycle) within the geographical area covered by the participant institutions with the aim to systematically assess nutritional status, eating behaviour, physical activity and lifestyle in target populations through the application of shared procedures and questionnaire able to add information lacking from the available datasets and to provide a setting for the validation of possible biomarker (see WP 5.4.) new intervention (in connection with Spoke 4) or educational strategies (in connection with spoke 7).
Definition of new protocols/surveys for the evaluation of the nutritional status across life stages, with attention to maternal-infant dyad in the "first 1000 days"; b) adult population (including physically active people and athletes); and free-living older adults.
Organisation of a multicentre infrastructure for the collection of samples and data dedicated to the identification and validation of food biomarkers (organisation of a multicentre infrastructure for collection of biological samples and identification standards, organisation of a multicentre and multisectoral infrastructure for data analysis, organisation of a clinical multicentre infrastructure for population recruitment and relationships with ethics committees).
Protocols for the definition of nutritional status, eating behaviour, physical activity, and lifestyle (M12)
Report on nutritional status, eating behaviour, physical activity and lifestyle linked to quality of diet, nutrition and adherence to sustainable food patterns (M36)
Recommendations for the adoption of adequate healthy dietary patterns a) during the first 1000 days window, b) physically active people, athletes (M36)
Agreements among different national recruitment centres to be involved in a dedicated infrastructure for biobank, data storage and recruitment of healthy subjects for screening of population (M12)
Guidelines to prepare dossiers for ethical committees’ applications (M12)
Maternal nutrition is the main determinant of fetal nutrition, representing a critical and modifiable risk factor for adverse pregnancy and long-term outcomes in both mother and offspring. Nutritional deficiencies have been associated with maternal pro-inflammatory status and maladaptation to pregnancy, resulting in deranged embryogenesis, placental dysfunction, and poor pregnancy outcomes. Our preliminary data showed that a first trimester nutritional score as a measure of adherence to a healthy diet is significantly associated with early markers of placental development, with further association with gestational age at birth.
Therefore, the definition of new protocols/surveys for the evaluation of the maternal nutritional status is crucial in pregnancy care, and the assessment of recommendations for the adoption of adequate healthy dietary patterns during the first 1000 days window is mandatory to prevent both short- and long-term adverse outcomes in mother and offspring.
The research will involve the following activities:
