In recent years, a growing number of clinical studies and experimental models have shown that adverse early life nutrition can reshape the disease trajectory and significantly increase the risk of metabolic abnormalities in adulthood. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis emphasizes the link between early life stages, including the prenatal fetus and infant, and the development of metabolic disorders in later life. The fetus or newborn adjusts their homeostasis system by making predictive adaptations to the early-life environment to help instant survival and to improve later survival in an expected postnatal environment of adversity.

However, inappropriate predictions of these changes to the early-life nutritional environment may lead to a mismatch between nutrition in early life and postnatal reality. These predictive responses result in an increased risk of chronic diseases in adulthood, which can be transmitted to future generations. The incidence and prevention of metabolic disorders should be advanced to the early life stage. Moreover, the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases should be explored from the perspective of different lifetime windows. This could provide some new evidence, targets, and thoughts for the role of early-life nutrition in metabolism.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect original research articles and review articles exploring the effects of early life (prenatal fetus or infant) malnutrition. Submissions can include under-nutrition and over-nutrition, or adult metabolism problems due to early life nutrition. We hope that this Special Issue can provide new evidence of early and effective preventions and treatments for metabolic disorders by looking at early life nutrition.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Microbiome and intrauterine environment
• Nutrients and intrauterine environment
• Epigenetics and intrauterine environment
• Placenta and intrauterine environment
• Circadian rhythm and intrauterine environment
• Intrauterine environment and offspring metabolism
• Paternal nutrition and offspring metabolism
• Epigenetics and paternal exposure
• Maternal metabolism and intrauterine environment
• Early life dietary intervention and metabolism