Encouraging healthy gut microbiotain the first 1,000 days, through breastfeeding and optimum nutrition, is essential to avoid short- and long-term health issues.
The first 1,000 days are a crucial period for the development of gut microbiota1,2. An imbalance of the gut microbiota (known as dysbiosis) in the first few months can have short- and long-term consequences on health, including allergies and illnesses such as asthma, obesity and diabetes4,5.
However, the diversity and stability of a healthy gut microbiota can be regulated: nutrition plays a key role in its rebalancing. Breast milk also naturally restores the balance of the gut microbiota, which is why it’s important for mothers to try to breastfeed in the early months3.
Colonization of a balanced gut microbiota
The first colonizing bacteria of the digestive tract could determine the composition of the gut microbiota throughout life. Thus, the first 1,000 days are a window of opportunity to influence microbiota1. Almost sterile in the beginning, the digestive tube is colonized at birth by maternal bacteria and later by environmental bacteria. Bacteria multiply and diversify during infancy and the microbiota stabilizes around the age of three3.
Many factors can influence the colonization of a the gut microbiota4,5:
**Body Mass Index
Infographic: Managing dysbiosis thanks to synbiotics
References
- Wopereis, Harm, et al. “The first thousand days–intestinal microbiology of early life: establishing a symbiosis.” Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 25.5 (2014): 428-438.
- Petersen, Charisse, and June L. Round. “Defining dysbiosis and its influence on host immunity and disease.” Cellular microbiology 16.7 (2014): 1024-1033.
- Scholtens, Petra AMJ, et al. “The early settlers: intestinal microbiology in early life.” Annual review of food science and technology 3 (2012): 425-447.
- Munyaka, Peris Mumbi, Ehsan Khafipour, and Jean-Eric Ghia. “External influence of early childhood establishment of gut microbiota and subsequent health implications.” Frontiers in pediatrics 2 (2014): 109.
- Fujimura, Kei E., et al. “Role of the gut microbiota in defining human health.” Expert review of anti-infective therapy 8.4 (2010): 435-454.
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