World Digestive Health Day highlights changing GI needs

This year’s World Digestive Health Day, May 29, highlights the changing dietary needs of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract from new-born, through infancy, childhood, and adulthood. With so many consumers now looking to address their digestive and immune health, it is important to realize that supporting a person’s inner defense begins in the womb. This is why the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) has chosen "A Healthy Gut from the Start" as its focus for the 2023 WDHD campaign.

The first months of life are a crucial period, as the gut is not mature at birth, thus immune development is influenced by the food a baby consumes. The maturation of the gut microbiota and the immune system is ongoing during the first 24 months of life. Studies have shown that support of the microbiota can strengthen the immune system of nursery-aged children.[i]^,[ii] Prebiotics promote the development of good bacteria such as Bifidobacteria, and they strengthen the inner defense system to help it fight pathogens. As a building block to immune health, prebiotics are supplied during breastfeeding in the form of human milk oligosaccharides. If a formula is provided, it should contain proven prebiotics (such as inulin and oligofructose or galactooligosaccharides) to ensure the selective growth of Bifidobacteria (the dominant species in breastfed babies).