Consensus recommendations on behalf of the European Commission research projects Perinatal Lipid Metabolism (PeriLip; www.perilip.org) and Early Nutrition Programming (EARNEST; www.metabolic-programming.org), developed jointly with representatives of the Child Health Foundation (Stiftung Kindergesundheit; www.kindergesundheit.de), the Diabetic Pregnancy Study Group (DPSG; www.medfak.uu.se/dpsg), the European Association of Perinatal Medicine (EAPM; www.europerinatal.com), the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN; www.espen.org), the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Committee on Nutrition (ESPGHAN; www.espghan.org), the International Federation of Placenta Associations (IFPA; http://aculeate.hopto.org/IFPA) and the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL; email www.issfal.org.uk).