Child's Gut Flora Positively Influenced by Breastfeeding

A recent study conducted by researchers from the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, and the University of Copenhagen, has found that breastfed babies benefit from more healthy gut bacteria. The growth of beneficial lactic acid bacteria in babies helps lower the risk of allergies, diabetes, obesity and inflammatory bowel disease later in life.

"We have become increasingly aware of how crucially important a healthy gut microbial population is for a well-functioning immune system. Babies are born without bacteria in the gut, and so it is interesting to identify the influence dietary factors have on gut microbiota development in children's first three years of life," said research manager at the National Food Institute Tine Rask Licht, via a press release.

Researchers examined a total of 330 Danish children who participated in a three-year study, led by Professor Kim F. Michaelsen from the University of Copenhagen. Stool samples of the children were submitted at nine, 18 and 36 months. These were examined at the National Food Institute and used to determine the amount of gut microbiota found.

As a child's gut microbiota continues to evolve until the age of three, research shows that children go through significant changes in intestinal bacterial composition from nine to 18 months.

"The results help to support the assumption that the gut microbiota is not - as previously thought - stable from the moment a child is a year old. According to our study important changes continue to occur right up to the age of three. This probably means that there is a 'window' during those early years, in which intestinal bacteria are more susceptible to external factors than what is seen in adults," Rask Licht added, via the release.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology: Establishment of intestinal microbiota during early life: A longitudinal, explorative study of a large cohort of Danish infants.