Gut Health and Babies

The term “gut health” has exploded in the last decade. We now are beginning to learn

how our gut health can impact our overall health and what we can do to improve this,

but what about our children’s gut health?

Babies are born with micro flow in their guts. The amount and type of bacteria that they host

in their gut is affected by a number of different factors. These include but are not limited too;

how a baby was born if it was caesarean or vaginally. How a baby is fed if it was exclusively

breast fed or formula. If a baby has any food allergies or intolerances. If they were ever

exposed antibiotics and for how long, and finally the environmental conditions they were

brought up in for example if there was air pollution present. It is believed so far that the

development of microbiome in babies continues until they reach maturity when they are

approximately three years old.

Research has found that baby’s that are born vaginally and that are breast fed have healthier

guts. However, do not stress we understand that not all babies can be born virginally and not

all babies can be breast feed.

This is why weaning, (when introducing solid foods to a baby) can be seen as window of

opportunity to positively influence the gut health of a child.

What we do know is that when weaning, we should try to introduce a variety of foods over

the course and throughout early childhood. Having 30 different varieties of plant food a week

can improve gut health. At first 30 different plant sources may seem like a task, however

plant sources include not only fruits, vegetables but also; nuts and seeds, wholegrains,

legumes, herbs and spices. You may even be offering 30 different plant sources to your

baby’s diet already.

Although the ability of many dietary factors to modulate the composition of gastrointestinal

microflora is well established, it is not so well understood in children. As the scientists love

to say, “this is a large emerging area where more research is required.