title: Research and the promotion of child health: a position paper of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition.
abstract: Children comprise one-fifth of Europe's population. Promoting child health and development is of key importance for society and its future. This position paper highlights opportunities of investing in gastrointestinal, liver, and nutritional research to promote child health and delineates priorities for research. Investing in child health plays a key role in the promotion of population health, well-being, and disease prevention lifelong, with large health economic benefits. Major opportunities for improving knowledge and translational application arise from recent scientific and technological developments, for example, the long-term impact of early environmental cues interacting with genes. Personalised approaches to therapy and prevention should be enhanced. Deciphering the microbiome and its effects on functions can help in promoting long-term health. Epigenetic research can help to understand how early environmental factors influence later gastrointestinal and hepatic health and disease. A linked nutrition and physical activity strategy can promote health and prevent nutritional deficiencies, inactivity, and chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as diabetes, to ensure optimal health and cognition. Special attention should be devoted to populations with low socioeconomic status, migrant background, and ethnic minorities, and to critical life periods, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, and childhood. Improved understanding of optimal nutrition and on maintaining gut and liver homeostasis throughout childhood will help prevent chronic diseases in later life.
authors.affiliation: *Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany †Children's Hospital Zagreb University Medical School, Zagreb, Croatia ‡UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK §Department of Paediatrics, Universita degli Studi di Napoli Frederico II, Naples, Italy ||ESPGHAN Committee on Gastroenterology, Department of Paediatrics, UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium ¶ESPGHAN Committee on Hepatology, Children's Hospital, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany #ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition, VU University Medical Center and Emma Children's Hospital, AMC, Amsterdam **Food &ThoughT, Den Haag ††Emma Children's Hospital, AMC, Amsterdam ‡‡Department of Paediatrics, Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Berthold
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koletzko
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kolacek
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Troncone
authors.forename: Yvan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Vandenplas
authors.forename: Nikhil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thapar
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Goudoever
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mihatsch
authors.forename: Casper
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Swarte
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benninga
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mearin
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004032:Diet; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005060:Europe; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005762:Gastroenterology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008099:Liver; D064307:Microbiota; D052756:Nutritional Sciences; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010372:Pediatrics; D011247:Pregnancy; D012106:Research; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors