When we think about heart health, we often picture adulthood, but lifelong health begins much earlier. Nutrition during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood plays a powerful role in shaping growth, development, and future health.
The newly released 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans – the federal government’s science-based nutrition recommendations that guide national food, nutrition, and health policies and programs – underscore that nutrition during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood plays a powerful role in shaping growth, development, and lifelong health.
For more than a century, the American Heart Association has provided science-based guidance to help families, caregivers, and policymakers translate this evidence into action. The Association helps ensure dietary recommendations – especially those affecting infants, young children, and families – are grounded in science and support long-term heart health.
Healthy habits grow with time and practice. Repeated exposure to nutritious foods and positive mealtime routines help toddlers build lifelong patterns that support heart health and overall well-being.
The American Heart Association welcomes the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans and commends the inclusion of key science‑based recommendations, particularly the emphasis on increasing consumption of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains while limiting added sugars, refined grains, highly processed foods, saturated fats, and sugary drinks. These priorities closely align with longstanding guidance from the Heart Association and other public health authorities. The guidelines also present an opportunity to clarify the scientific rationale behind certain Association recommendations.
The American Heart Association notes concerns that guidance related to salt seasoning and red meat consumption could unintentionally contribute to excess sodium and saturated fat intake – major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. While the guidelines reference whole‑fat dairy, the American Heart Association continues to recommend low‑fat and fat‑free dairy options after age two to support heart health.
As the national senior advocacy consultant for Voices for Healthy Kids, which supports the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers, and with graduate training in both public health and nutrition, I see these guidelines as an important opportunity to help families understand what young children – and the adults who care for them – need to thrive.
Dietary Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers
The guidelines reinforce that the first years of life are critical.
For the first six months, the guidelines recommend breast milk as the sole source of nutrition, with iron-fortified infant formula as a safe alternative. Around six months, infants can begin solid foods while continuing breast milk or formula, which remains a primary source of nutrition through the first year.
What those early foods look like matters. The American Heart Association’s science-based guidance has long emphasized offering nutrient-dense foods, including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and lean protein sources, while avoiding added sugars during infancy and early childhood. The Dietary Guidelines reflect many of these evidence-driven recommendations, while also noting that early exposure to a variety of flavors and textures supports healthy eating patterns over time.
The guidelines also highlight the importance of repeated exposure. It’s normal for young children to reject new foods at first, and it may take multiple tries before they accept them. Caregivers can support healthy eating by offering nutritious foods consistently, modeling balanced meals, and making food part of positive daily routines.
Lifelong heart health begins early. Nutrition during pregnancy and infancy plays a powerful role in growth, development, and long-term health—starting with how babies are nourished in their first months of life.
Dietary Guidelines During Pregnancy and Lactation
Nutrition needs increase during pregnancy to support both maternal health and fetal growth. The guidelines emphasize key nutrients such as iron, folate, iodine, calcium, choline, and healthy fats, all of which play essential roles in development. Including meals rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, eggs, lean protein, and low-mercury seafood helps meet these needs while supporting long-term heart health.
During lactation, energy and nutrient needs remain elevated. A varied, nutrient-dense diet supports milk production and maternal well-being, with particular attention to nutrient-dense foods rich in vitamins and minerals.
Dietary Guidelines for the Whole Family
Across life stages, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans aligns closely with American Heart Association guidance:
- emphasize fruits and vegetables
- choose whole grains
- limit added sugars, sugary drinks, sodium, saturated fats, and highly processed foods.
These patterns support healthy growth in children and help reduce the risk of heart disease later in life.
The first foods matter. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourage introducing a variety of nutrient-dense foods—like fruits and vegetables—to help infants develop healthy eating patterns from the start.
Putting Guidance into Practice
Healthy eating requires both clear guidance and the ability to act on it. Families need affordable, culturally relevant foods that fit the realities of daily life. Sharing direction from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is helpful, but it is not enough on its own. We must also support the policies and systems that make healthy choices easier and more accessible for all families.
Rooted in decades of nutrition science, including evidence advanced by the American Heart Association, this moment offers an opportunity to align knowledge with action. When families have the support they need to nourish their children from the very beginning, we strengthen not only individual health, but the foundation for healthier communities and stronger hearts for generations to come.
Explore additional science-based resources from the American Heart Association:
- American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Dietary Guidance to Improve Cardiovascular Health
- American Heart Association resources and materials: ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
- American Heart Association Science Advisory: Ultraprocessed Foods and Their Association With Cardiometabolic Health: Evidence, Gaps, and Opportunities
- American Heart Association consumer information and resources: Healthy Food Facts: Your Guide to Balanced Eating
- American Heart Association food is medicine initiative: Health Care by Food
- American Heart Association initiative: Periodic Table of Food
Katie Bishop Kendrick, MS, MPH, is the senior national advocacy consultant on the Voices for Healthy Kids team, which powers the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers. With more than 15 years of experience in nutrition policy, she has advanced health-focused policy change at the national, state, and local levels. Katie holds master’s degrees in nutrition and public health from Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island. She lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, two young children, and their three-legged cat, Felix.
