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Childhood Nutrition

Meaning

The comprehensive dietary and nutrient intake during the critical developmental periods from infancy through adolescence, which fundamentally shapes the lifelong structure and function of the endocrine system, metabolic health, and overall physiological resilience. Proper childhood nutrition provides the essential building blocks and epigenetic signals necessary for the correct programming of hormone-producing glands and receptor sensitivity. Inadequate or imbalanced intake during these windows can establish lifelong vulnerabilities.