Families with children under three need better practical support if they are to encourage positive feeding habits from an early age, cautions an influential group of experts on childhood nutrition and development.

Fresh food, more exercise and no smoking. These are some of the choices we need to make in order to lead a healthy lifestyle, which is sustainable in the long term.

A dietary supplement containing an amino acid and antioxidant vitamins, given to pregnant women at high risk of pre-eclampsia, can reduce the occurrence of the disease, finds a study published on bmj.com.

The Infant & Toddler Forum - experts in child health, nutrition and development - is stepping up its work to encourage wider recognition and adoption of its 'Ten Steps for Healthy Toddlers' launched last year to address the lack of simple, consistent guidance on toddler eating habits.

Babies who are breastfed are far less likely to become children with behaviour problems by the time they reach the age of five than those who receive formula milk, according to research by a team that included University of York academics.

The Government has restated its commitment to improving public health by moving nutrition policy for England into the Department of Health

A new seven-year observational study from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has again linked B vitamins to a reduced risk of Alzheimer's. The latest findings, which focus on vitamin B12, add to recent high-profile studies into the protective effects of the vitamins. The research is published in the October 19 issue of Neurology.

Abbott has recently launched Similac High Energy, a Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP), available on prescription for infants with, or at risk of, faltering growth. Faltering growth describes infants or young children who do not achieve a normal or expected rate of growth, or experience unplanned weight loss.

There has been much media interest in a recent study of post-menopausal women which concluded that using multivitamins has little or no effect on total mortality, or the risk of cancer or cardiovascular disease. Dr Carrie Ruxton, Health Supplement's Information Service looks at the pros and cons.

By Georgine Leung, Nutrition Scientist, British Nutrition Foundation
Good nutrition during the early years plays an important role in shaping healthy eating habits in later life, and in supporting growth and development.