Choices in First 1,000 Days Following Conception May Safeguard Health of Future Generations
New Zealand has a unique opportunity to safeguard the health of its future generations according to the founders of the
Early Life Nutrition Coalition, speaking at the organisation’s New Zealand launch today (Monday 26th March 2018) at the
meeting of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) in Auckland.
According to the newly formed Early Life Nutrition Coalition, a subcommittee of PSANZ, healthier nutrition and lifestyle
choices made in the first 1,000 days before, during and after pregnancy will significantly reduce the risk of New
Zealand children suffering from obesity, type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in later life.
The Coalition’s campaign in New Zealand begins with a Community Service Announcement to be screened on TVNZ focused on
healthy weight gain and diet during pregnancy; the importance of breastfeeding for as long as possible; when and how to
introduce solids, including known allergens, to infants; and why positive nutritional role modelling by parents is
crucial.
“Nutrition and lifestyle changes are ways in which we can reduce the incidence of these diseases in future generations.
For many of these diseases, what we do in the earliest stages of development are the most influential,” says Early Life
Nutrition Coalition spokesman, Professor Frank Bloomfield, Director of the Liggins Institute and a Consultant
Neonatologist at Auckland City Hospital
At the first New Zealand meeting of the PSANZ in eight years, the Early Life Nutrition Coalition, an affiliation of
professional, academic, advocacy, corporate and healthcare groups from New Zealand and Australia, launched its New
Zealand campaign to help new and expectant parents, as well as health care professionals, make better nutrition and
lifestyle choices in the vital first 1,000 Days before, during and after pregnancy.
“We know that during pregnancy and throughout infancy, there are critical times when a fetus and baby are particularly
susceptible to the influence of nutrition and lifestyle,” Professor Bloomfield adds.
“Of all the environmental aspects, nutrition is the number one thing that can be influenced. Evidence continues to show
that good nutrition not only helps maximise growth and development in early life, it also reduces risk factors for
numerous diseases in later life, such as heart disease and cancer.”
“Much of what we say to expectant parents is focused on what not to do while pregnant,” says Coalition Member and
Associate Professor at Auckland University, Dr Clare Wall.
“We’re trying to focus on the positive steps that can be taken. There is a huge opportunity to ensure future
generations are getting the best possible start to a healthy and long life,” she says.
“It is the Coalition’s aim to promote actions that can be taken during this critical window of opportunity. While the
Coalition would like to facilitate behaviour change in some areas, our aim is to reinforce the positive steps parents
can take to enhance the future health of generations to come,” she added.
The New Zealand Health Survey 2016/17 found that:
• around 1 in 8 children (aged 2–14 years) were obese (12%)
• a further 21% children were overweight but not obese
• 18% of Māori children were obese
• 29% of Pacific children were obese
• children living in the most deprived areas were 2.5 times as likely to be obese as children living in the least
deprived areas[1]
• the child obesity rate increased from 8% in 2006/07 to 12% in 2016/17.
Founding members of the Early Life Nutrition Coalition (@EarlyLifeHealth #EarlyLifeHealth #ELNCoalition), which is a
sub-committee of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand, include: Australian Diabetes Educators Association;
Australian Diabetes Society; Caring and Living as Neighbours; The Children’s Nutrition Research Centre, University of
Queensland; Danone Early Life Nutrition; Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Society; Dietitians Society of
Australia; Healthy Start Workforce Project; The Liggins Institute; Menzies Institute for Medical Research; Murdoch
Children’s Research Institute; Pharmaceutical Society of Australia; United Way Australia; and the University of
Auckland.
#Ends
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[1] Adjusted for differences in age, sex and ethnicity.