Skip to main content
2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Systematic Reviews

Birth to 24 Months Subcommittee

  • Birth to 24 Months Subcommittee 

    • Kathryn Dewey, PhD, University of California, Davis, Subcommittee Chair
    • Lydia Bazzano, MD, PhD, Tulane University and Ochsner Health System
    • Teresa Davis, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine
    • Sharon Donovan, PhD, RD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
    • Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    • Ronald Kleinman, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Vice-Chair of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

    Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) Team 

    • Darcy Güngör, MS, Analyst, Panum Group
    • Sudha Venkatramanan, PhD, Analyst, Panum Group
    • Emily Madan, PhD, Analyst, Panum Group
    • Laural Kelly English, PhD, Analyst, Panum Group
    • Nancy Terry, MS, MLS, Biomedical Librarian, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
    • Gisela Butera, MLIS, MEd, Systematic Review Librarian, Panum Group
    • Julie Obbagy, PhD, RD, Project Lead, Office of Nutrition Guidance and Analysis (ONGA), Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

    Federal Liaisons 

    • Cria Perrine, PhD, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS 
    • Jennifer Lerman, MPH, RD, National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH, HHS
    • Kelley Scanlon, PhD, RD, Special Nutrition Research and Analysis Division, Office of Policy Support, FNS, USDA

    Project Leadership

    • Eve Essery Stoody, PhD, Designated Federal Officer and Director, ONGA, CNPP, FNS, USDA
    • Janet de Jesus, MS, RD, Nutrition Advisor, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), HHS

    The Committee and NESR staff thank the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service for coordinating the peer review of this systematic review, and the Federal scientist peer reviewers for their time and expertise. For a list of the peer reviewers, see the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Systematic Reviews Page.

Overview

The Birth to 24 Months Subcommittee conducted systematic reviews to answer 4 questions that examined the relationship between diet during infancy and toddlerhood and health outcomes: 

  1. What is the relationship between the duration, frequency, and volume of exclusive human milk and/or infant formula consumption and overweight and obesity? 
  2. What is the relationship between the duration, frequency, and volume of exclusive human milk and/or infant formula consumption and nutrient status?
  3. What is the relationship between iron from supplements consumed during infancy and toddlerhood and growth, size, and body composition?
  4. What is the relationship between vitamin D from supplements consumed during infancy and toddlerhood and bone health?

These reviews can be accessed below, and are discussed in the Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Part D: Chapters 4 and 6, which are available at DietaryGuidelines.gov.

The Birth to 24 Months Subcommittee also answered 7 questions using existing NESR reviews:

  1. What is the relationship between the duration, frequency, and volume of exclusive human milk and/or infant formula consumption and long-term health outcomes? 
  2. What is the relationship between the duration, frequency, and volume of exclusive human milk and/or infant formula consumption and food allergies and atopic allergic diseases?
  3. What is the relationship between complementary feeding and growth, size, and body composition?
  4. What is the relationship between complementary feeding and developmental milestones, including neurocognitive development?
  5. What is the relationship between complementary feeding and nutrient status?
  6. What is the relationship between complementary feeding and bone health?
  7. What is the relationship between complementary feeding and food allergies and atopic allergic diseases?

These reviews can be accessed from the webpage of the Pregnancy and Birth to 24 Months Project, and are discussed in the Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Part D: Chapters 4 and 5, which are available at DietaryGuidelines.gov.

For information on all systematic reviews conducted by the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee with support from NESR, including details about NESR’s systematic review methodology, see the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Systematic Reviews Page.

Every systematic review contains a summary, description, and synthesis of the evidence, data and risk of bias tables, graded conclusion statements, and research recommendations. The systematic review also details the protocol used in conducting the systematic review, including the analytic framework, inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature search strategy, search and screening results, and lists of included and excluded articles. In addition, both a technical abstract and plain language summary are provided for each of the systematic reviews.

Systematic Review Questions

What is the relationship between the duration, frequency, and volume of exclusive human milk and/or infant formula consumption and overweight and obesity?

What is the relationship between the duration, frequency, and volume of exclusive human milk and/or infant formula consumption and nutrient status?

What is the relationship between iron from supplements consumed during infancy and toddlerhood and growth, size, and body composition?

What is the relationship between vitamin D from supplements consumed during infancy and toddlerhood and bone health?