Research on early childhood nutrition and the implementation of healthy eating guidelines continues

The postdoctoral research project "Assessment of early childhood diet quality and the development of tailored tools for implementing dietary guidelines" 1.1.1.9/LZP/2/25/211 implementation continues at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU), to assess the nutrition of infants and young children in Latvia in order to develop tailored tools for the implementation of dietary guidelines.

In the first six months of the project, an assessment of industrially produced baby food has been carried out using the Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model (NPPM) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). More than 350 baby food products – purees – available in Latvia has been evaluated, assessing their compliance with the criteria defined by the WHO. The assessment reveals that the majority of the products are “sweet” fruit purees with low total energy content but high sugar content. A couple of baby food products with added sugar were identified. Currently, work continues on the preparation of data sets and scientific publication, so that the project results can be popularised to the wider public. In order to help parents and other caregivers navigate through the “jungle” of baby food, a digital tool (calculator) will be developed, where by entering information about the nutritional value of a baby food product, an assessment of the product and its suitability for infant feeding will be received.

During the reporting period, international mobility was also implemented, participating in the Winter Nutrition School organized by the University of Helsinki (Saariselkä, Finland). Knowledge about child nutrition, including lactation and complementary feeding, was also gained by participating in the international scientific conference “Nutrition & Growth” (Prague, Czech Republic) and the conference “Breastfeeding Insights Shaping the Future” organized by the European Lactation Consultants Alliance (Bucharest, Romania).

In parallel with the research tasks, academic and knowledge transfer activities were implemented, including supervision of one bachelor's and one master's thesis.

During the reporting period, public information and science communication activities has been also implemented, by providing a lecture at the Gulbene Regional Library "Early Childhood Nutrition: What Does Science Say?", participating in the activity "DietitianWeek2026" organized by the Latvian Diet and Nutrition Specialists Association, as well as engaging in the photo project "Scientist. Alive. Leap” organized by the Latvian Association of Young Scientists. In cooperation with the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control of Latvia, several information materials (infographics, cards, etc.) have been developed that can be used by educational institutions to educate children on healthy nutrition.

As part of the project, an assessment of iodine status in infants will be launched this fall by collecting and determining iodine concentration in morning urine samples, as well as additional data on nutrition will be collected using WHO indicators for the assessment.

The research application is being implemented within the framework of the Specific Objective 1.1.1 "Strengthening research and innovative capacities and introduction of advanced technologies in the common R&D system" of the European Union's Cohesion Policy Programme for 2021-2027 project 1.1.1.9/1/24/I/001 "Post-doctoral Research".

The total approved cost of the project is 183,297.60 EUR, of which 155,802.96 EUR or 85% is funding from the European Regional Development Fund, 18 329.76 EUR or 10% is state budget funding, but 9,164.88 EUR or 5% – other funding resources.

The duration of the project implementation is 36 months – from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2028.

Project manager – Līva Aumeistere, researcher at the Institute of Food Science of LBTU. Additional information about the project: www.pirmaisuzturs.lv.