Food for thought

When you work in nutrition science, there's no escaping the fact that your family and friends will want to discuss the latest advice on what they should (and shouldn't) be eating.

Dr Beverly Mühlhäusler, Senior research Fellow with the University of Adelaide's FooDplus research Centre, is no stranger to such conversations.

Dr Mühlhäusler works with a team led by Professor Bob Gibson and Professor Maria Makrides to investigate a wide range of nutrition issues.

Her research includes: the impact of mothers' diets on their babies; the early origins of obesity; food preferences and food addiction; appetite regulation; the importance of omega-3 fatty acids; and the balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in the body.

Now that she has a young daughter, nutrition for mothers and babies has become a personal issue as well as a professional one for Dr Mühlhäusler.

"Perinatal nutrition is an area that we still don't know enough about - it's a bit of a mystery to most people, even researchers, and there are lots of questions that we just don't know the answers to," Dr Mühlhäusler said.

"You can see that in the recommendations to the public, which are constantly changing, such as when to introduce your child to solids.

"Every country has different guidelines on nutrition issues and it becomes incredibly confusing for parents. I've noticed - especially now being in that space as a mother with a young child - that a lot of the advice isn't really backed up by evidence, and yet it's become dogma.

"Pregnancy and infancy is a critical time in terms of nutrition. You can make or break many of the child's long-term outcomes by doing the right thing or the wrong thing in that period of time.

"So I'm excited by the research we're doing. We've got a great opportunity to make big differences to people's lives," she said.

Since graduating from the University of Adelaide with Honours in Science (2001) and a PhD in Science (2006), Dr Mühlhäusler has earned a strong reputation for the quality of her research.

She has published 31 original research papers, including 18 as the lead author, and has been invited to publish seven review articles in high-impact journals in the field. Dr Mühlhäusler also has written and co-written three book chapters, two on the perinatal programming of obesity and one on nutritional models of type 2 diabetes.

Although there are still many scientific mysteries when it comes to nutrition, Dr Mühlhäusler said it "all comes down to common sense, really".

"We know what we should be eating to get the nutrients we need - most of us know about the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating but there are very few people following it," she said.

"To be fair, it's actually hard to follow the guide, especially every day. Part of it is because of the lifestyle we lead - there's a lot of time pressure, people often don't have enough time to prepare food, and also there are a lot of people who don't know how to prepare food.

"Fast food is relatively cheap and easily accessible, and this is why it becomes a problem for our society. What we are trying to do is to work out what nutrition in early life gives children the best possible start, and helps to protect them from all the less healthy things they are inevitably going to be exposed to later in life."