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Background and challenges

Exclusive breastfeeding until a child is 6 months old constitutes a sustainable lever for action on the health of the child and his or her adult development in order to cope with the expansion of chronic non-communicable diseases. The unique composition of breast milk in terms of nutrients and bioactive compounds adapts to the growth and development of the baby and is variable according to the mother's metabolic status, her diet and also her environmental exposure to pollutants. This sensitivity of the composition of human milk to its environment makes it a matrix of choice for a systemic and interdisciplinary approach to the study of the impact of dietary habits and the environment on the mother's exposure to chemical pollutants and its consequences on the presence of chemical substances in breast milk and the possible risks to the child's health, which could counterbalance the benefits. Finally, environmental exposure (e.g. rural versus urban) and the mother's diet would be determinants of the microbiota in breast milk directly or through modulation of her gut microbiota.

Goals

The project aims to establish the proof of concept of the need for a systemic and multidisciplinary approach to finely analyse the nutritional, chemical and microbiological composition of breast milk, taking into account the environmental dimension of the mother-child dyad, with the ultimate objective of the health of the future adult. The data from this pilot study should eventually enable us to refine food consumption recommendations and initiate more sustainable dietary transitions in women of childbearing age or breastfeeding women, particularly in vulnerable populations.

Three research questions have been identified:

• To what extent is the nutritional, chemical and microbiological composition of breast milk impacted by the dietary habits of mothers and their sustainability as well as by their lifestyles (urban or rural)?
• How do the 3 components (nutrients-microbiota-contaminants) of breast milk interact with each other?
• What is the impact of the composition of bioactive and chemical compounds in breast milk on the child's staturo-weight development up to the age of 2 years, a variable that is potentially predictive of later chronic pathologies in the event breastfeeding is halted?

INRAE units involved

• Physiologies des Adaptations Nutritionnelles
• Laboratoire d'étude des Résidus et Contaminants dans les Aliments
• Sécurité des Aliments et microbiologie
• Statistique, Sensométrie, Chimiométrie
• Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et statistiques

Partners

• Hôpital Mère-Enfant de Nantes - Service de néonatologie
• Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - équipe Mère et enfant en milieu tropical : pathogènes, système de santé et transition épidémiologique