Milk, whether human milk during infancy or cow's milk during childhood and beyond, plays a crucial role in meeting the nutritional requirements of Canadians. In turn, milk facilitates optimal growth, neurodevelopment and disease prevention. For very preterm infants, mother's milk and pasteurized donor human milk, when mother's milk is unavailable, is life-saving. Emerging data suggest cow's milk may play a role in childhood growth and appetite regulation, glucose control, and obesity prevention. However, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) have displaced milk in the diet. Many Canadians are also now opting for plant-based beverages for cultural, religious, and health considerations. We aim to investigate how the nutritional and bioactive components of milk (human or cow's milk) and infant formula can maintain and improve Canadians' health. This Canada Foundation for Innovation grant will enable the purchase of specialized equipment to systematically evaluate promising strategies to facilitate optimal delivery of nutrients to very preterm infants and preserve the inherent biological properties of human milk. In addition, novel biomarkers of milk and SSB intake will be developed and used in studies to assess the role of cow's milk, plant-based beverages and SSB on appetite regulation, weight gain and body composition. In all studies, we will explore the impact of parental feeding practices.

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