Nutrition Committee

General Information

The Committee on Nutrition is made up of 10 Paediatricians (one trainee) and one Allied Health Professional with interests spanning the spectrum of clinical nutrition and nutritional research in infants and children. Members serve for a period of three years, renewable once.
The main roles of the Committee are to write Position Papers on topical issues in infant and child nutrition, organise a Nutrition Summer School every two years, and design the nutritional part of the scientific programme at the ESPGHAN annual meeting.
The Committee has just celebrated its 40th anniversary. The activities of the committee are reported annually to ESPGHAN Council and ESPGHAN Members.

To download the annual committee report, please click here.

Special Interest Groups

Gut Microbiota and Modification

Steering Committee
Yvan Vandenplas, Flavia Indrio

Description: The specific objectives of this (special Interest Group) SIG are to
a) create an international network among professionals interested and involved in gut microbiota & modifications research
b) write position statements or clinical guidelines alone or in collaboration with other ESPGHAN groups or organizations on issues related to gut microbiota & modifications
c) carry out collaborative basic and clinical research related to gut microbiota & modifications
d) deliver educational sessions on gut microbiota & modifications.

Projects & Activities: to view all recent and upcoming activities of this Special Interest Group, you can download the annual committee report here.

Terms of Reference: to view the ToR of this group, please click here.

Clinical Malnutrition

Group Chair
Koen Huysentruyt

Description: The Special Interest Group in Clinical Malnutrition is a Nutrition working group that is interested in the effect of acute and chronic illness on nutritional status and the effect of nutritional interventions. It has a particularly interested in the following thematic areas
a) Definition, screening and assessment of malnutrition
b) The effect of nutritional status on clinical outcomes
c) The effect of nutritional interventions on clinical outcomes

Projects & Activities: to view all recent and upcoming activities of this Special Interest Group, you can download the annual committee report here.

Terms of Reference: to view the ToR of this group, please click here.

Neonatal Nutrition

Steering Committee:
Gitte Zachariassen - Chair
Chris van Akker - Secretary

Description: The Special Interest Group in Neonatal Nutrition is focussed on the impact of nutrition during the direct postnatal phase on short and long term outcomes.
Parenteral and enteral feeding are considered. The combination of basic, translational and clinical studies enables the group to interact on these various levels and creates possibilities of networking through these disciplines.
The specific objectives of this SIG are to: a) To create an international network among professionals interested and involved in neonatal nutrition. b) to write position statements or clinical guidelines together involving the Committee on Nutrition and other professional organisations. c) to carry out collaborative basic, translational and clinical research with other members of the group. d) to deliver education sessions on neonatal nutrition

Projects & Activities: to view all recent and upcoming activities of this Special Interest Group, you can dowload the annual committee report here.

Terms of Reference: to view the ToR of this group, please click here.

Childhood Obesity

Overview
The interest to create a SIG focusing on Childhood Obesity arose out of the need for
further involvement of health professionals and scientists with a research and clinical
interest in this thematic area. Childhood obesity is the most prevalent food-based disorder
among children and adolescents worldwide. Although national and international surveys report a
levelling-off of the prevalence of obesity in some countries, the burden of pediatric obesity is still
high, not least in Mediterranean area countries. Current treatment approaches are sub-optimal
both in adults and children and indeed in the last decade, important studies have been conducted
aiming to identify strategies to prevent obesity during critical periods of life.

Aims and Objectives
The Special Interest Group in Childhood Obesity is a Nutrition working group that is
interested in the effect of childhood obesity on health outcomes and the effect of the
lifestyle interventions on prevention of these diseases and its cardiometabolic
consequences. It has a particular interest in the following thematic areas:
1) Definition, screening and assessment of obesity
2) The effect of obesity on clinical outcomes
3) The effect of lifestyle interventions on obesity and -related cardiometabolic alterations
prevention
The specific objectives of this SIG are:
1) To create an international network among professionals interested and involved in
childhood obesity
2) To write position paper or clinical guidelines together involving the Committee on
Nutrition or in collaboration with other ESPGHAN groups or organizations
3) To deliver educational sessions on childhood obesity
4) To carry out collaborative basic and clinical research with other members of the group
aiming also to participate to funding calls.

Members:
Current Chair: Elvira Verduci, MD, Associate Professor in Pediatrics,
Clinical Nutrition Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Ospedale dei Bambini Vittore Buzzi,
University of Milan
Secretary: Dr Veronica Luque. Universitat Rovira I Virgili Tarragona
(URV)
Steering Committee Members:
Berthold Koletzko University of Munich 
Cristina Campoy University of Granada 
HepCom representative, Angelika Kindermann Universiteit van Amsterdam 

Meetings:
The working group meets regularly at the annual meeting of ESPGHAN.
Ad-hoc meeting will take place according to the activities of the SIG and following
approval by the CoN

NITE: Network of Intestinal rehabilitation and Transplantation in Europe

Contact
Lorenzo Norsa, Ospedale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo - Italy; lonorsa@hotmail.com

Description:
The intestinal failure and transplantation group is established with representation from the ESPGHAN Hepatology Committee, Gastroenterology Committee and Nutrition Committee to
a) improve outcome of children with intestinal failure and intestinal transplantation
b) improve collaboration and develop a model of managed clinical network within Europe between European Intestinal Transplantation Centres and Intestinal Rehabilitation centres
c)sharing of expertise between experienced and less experienced centres with the ultimate aim of improving outcome of children with intestinal failure and those undergoing intestinal transplantation, d) close collaboration of clinical expertise will translate into collaborative research between different centres
The group was established in 2009 and has been successfully running for the last 5 years Members:
Girish Gupte
Florence Lacaille
Raanan Shamir
Sanja Kolacek
Lorenzo D’Antiga
Ekkehard Sturm
John Puntis

Projects & Activities: to view all recent and upcoming activities of the NITE Group, you can dowload the annual committee report here.

Terms of Reference: to view the ToR of this group, please click here.