title: Infant feeding and the concept of early nutrition programming: a comparison of qualitative data from four European countries.
abstract: The concept of early nutrition programming is appearing in policy documents, leaflets and magazine articles with different types of statements. However, the level of representation and influence of this concept is unknown in the area of infant nutrition. We established the degree of reflection and the impact of the concept of nutrition programming among the different government stakeholders of infant nutrition in four European countries. In each country, a list of stakeholders in the area of infant feeding was established and key persons responsible for the remit of infant nutrition were identified. We conducted standardised face-to-face or phone interviews from January 2006 to January 2007. The interview guide included questions about the concept of nutrition programming. All interviews were digitally recorded and qualitative data analysis was done using QRS NVivo V2. In total, we analyzed 17 interviews from government organizations in England (5 interviews), Germany (4 interviews), Hungary (3 interviews) and Spain (5 interviews). The concept of nutrition programming was recognized from 4/5 English and 3/4 German interviewees, whereby one organisation reflected the concept in their documents in both countries. In Hungary, 1/3 interviewees recognised the concept and reflected it in their documents. All interviewed Spanish governmental bodies (5/5) recognised the concept of nutrition programming and three of them reflected the concept in their documents. The concept of early nutrition programming was widely recognized among the key persons of government bodies in all four European countries. However, the concept was not necessarily represented in the produced documents.
authors.affiliation: Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
authors.forename: Martina A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: von Rosen-von Hoewel
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martin-Bautista
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campoy
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Decsi
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gage
authors.forename: Berthold
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koletzko
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raats
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D005060:Europe; D005858:Germany; D006077:Government Agencies; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D013030:Spain