“I know gut health is important, so how can I improve my child’s gut health?” Parents, if you’ve asked yourself this question, you’re in the right place!
It’s a pleasure to introduce you to my brilliant colleague and friend, Andrea Hardy. Andrea is Canada’s Gut Health Dietitian and owner of Ignite Nutrition and she’s here to break down the science and answer one of your top questions: “How can I improve my child’s gut health?”.
As a parent, ensuring your child is healthy is a top priority. We’ve recently seen a growing interest in gut and digestive health in particular. You’ve likely Googled remedies for your child’s constipation, gas, bloating and all-around tummy aches to try to get to the bottom of their tummy troubles. Overall, having a healthy gut plays a crucial role in a child’s digestion, immunity, and even mood regulation.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of gut health for kids, how it influences their overall well-being, and practical tips to support a healthy gut in children.
Development of the Gut Microbiome
The gut is home to trillions of bacteria, collectively known as the gut microbiota. These bacteria play a pivotal role in maintaining health. For a long time, scientists considered the developing fetus to be ‘sterile’, meaning an unborn baby didn’t appear to have any exposure to bacteria in the womb. However, newer studies using more advanced testing methods have found that there is a low level of bacteria in the amniotic fluid, and placenta (1). To put it simply – the gut microbiota starts to develop even before a baby is born!
And that is just the tip of the iceberg! During birth, the way a baby is delivered plays a significant role in the initial bacterial colonization of the gut. Infants born vaginally are exposed to their mother’s vaginal and fecal bacteria, while those born via cesarean section are first exposed to microbes from the skin and the surrounding environment. Neither one of these is the “better way” – they’re just different! The first few years of a child’s life involve lots of rapid changes to the gut microbiota as it continues to develop.
Why gut health is important for your child
Your child’s gut health plays a big role in their overall wellness. For starters, having a healthy gut can help your child to have regular and comfortable bowel movements and less digestive discomfort. But the benefits go beyond just digestion and …poop! Gut health also influences the immune system. A healthy gut microbiota is believed to reduce susceptibility to immune-mediated conditions like allergies, eczema, and asthma (1). Plus, there is some cool research being done on the connection between the gut microbiome and mental health in both pediatric and adult populations. At this point, we don’t have a lot to go from, but it’s looking really promising that a healthy gut (with diverse gut bacteria) likely has a positive impact on mental health (4).
Factors that Impact Gut Health
There are SO MANY factors that influence the development of the gut microbiome in the first few years of life, including:
Type of birth delivery
Infant feeding methods
Having siblings
Having pets in the household
Genetics
Diet
Infection/getting sick
Use of antibiotics
Hygiene and overall exposure to germs (2)
And more!
How Do I Know if My Child’s Gut Health is Poor?
So, knowing there are so many factors that impact a child’s gut health, how would a parent know whether their child’s gut health is “good” or “bad”? We get it – this stuff can be confusing and overwhelming. You’re likely constantly reading about what’s best and worst for your child’s health. When it comes to gut health in particular, we see a lot of bold statements to the tune of “if your kid does X, then they definitely have a HUGE problem with their gut. Run to the doctor!” or “go purchase this specific probiotic”.
However, a lot of the claims made on social media aren’t evidence-based or sound. We tend to see a hyperfixation on perfection when it comes to gut health, and it’s important to remember that we all have fluctuations in our gut – it’s ever-changing! It’s normal for your child to have some gas. It’s normal for your child to have looser stool today than they did yesterday. The key is to look for patterns that occur for longer periods of time, creating a repeated sense of discomfort for your child.
Some clues you can look for in your child that might indicate issues with gut health are:
Irregular bowel patterns that occur often – constipation, diarrhea, or a mix of both
Regular abdominal pain
Lots of uncomfortable gas or bloating
Poor immunity – allergies, getting sick regularly, or difficulty fighting infection.
Skin conditions – such as eczema/atopic dermatitis or rashes (1)
Do I need to get my child formal testing for gut health?
When it comes to more formal testing, there are no standardized gut microbiome tests to assess the healthiness of your child’s gut. Although some tests claim to analyze the gut microbiome, they are not validated at this time. However, if your child does have some of the above symptoms, IgE allergy testing with an allergist or immunologist may be a good place to start.
Should I be giving my child a probiotic?
Not necessarily. Probiotics can be a great addition to help with specific conditions such as IBS, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, or colic (5). However, not all children will require an expensive supplement like this for general gut health. Certain strains of probiotics are best for certain conditions, but those without a pre-existing concern like this likely won’t require a probiotic or see a ton of benefit from taking one. If fact, taking a random probiotic that isn’t the right fit can actually disrupt an already healthy and balanced microbiome. Best to chat with a pediatric registered dietitian first.
Ways to Improve Your Child’s Gut Health
If you’ve noticed your child struggling with their gut health, there are several strategies you can try. Even if your child isn’t showing any warning signs of gut health issues, these tips can go a long way toward ensuring a healthy and happy gut for the long haul!
1) Offer Fermented Foods
Many fermented foods are rich in living bacteria that can help to diversify the gut microbiome. These good gut bugs can help to metabolize fibres we eat and create beneficial by-products called ‘postbiotics’ that are good for our immunity and the overall health of the gut. Introducing fermented foods early in life can help establish a diverse and resilient gut microbiota, which may have long-term health benefits.
Plus, fermented foods can be a tasty and fun addition to your child’s diet, introducing them to new flavors and textures! They can be a nutritious snack or a flavorful addition to meals. Examples of child-friendly fermented foods include yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi.
2) Focus on Fibre
Eating high-fibre foods helps to ensure that we eat enough prebiotics, which is the fuel that our good gut bacteria eat. Fibre comes from plant-based foods like vegetables, fruit, grains, and legumes. But let’s be honest – not all kids are eager to eat their vegetables!
Here are some of our favourite ways to include high fibre foods for kids (even when they’re not wild about them):
Try Meatless Meals
Introduce meatless meals that are rich in fibre, such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas. Dishes like tacos with black beans, or a snack plate with hummus can be flavorful and satisfying ways to increase fibre intake. If they’re meat lovers, try meals that have both meat and legumes – like chili or spaghetti with a combined meat/lentil sauce.
Try Something New Together
As a family, choose one new fruit or vegetable to try each week. This could be something like an unfamiliar fruit, a new type of apple, or a different kind of bagged salad. This is a great way to get your kids involved and hopefully excited about fibre! It can be fun to make a ‘game’ out of trying something new.
Incorporate Whole Grains
Swap out refined grains like white bread, pasta, and rice for whole grain varieties. I suggest choosing one thing to swap first – if you overhaul your child’s entire diet overnight, it may be too overwhelming. Try swapping regular pasta for a fibre-added version or a pasta made from a higher fibre ingredient like chickpea flour.
3) Consider Probiotics, Maybe…
Probiotics have gained HUGE popularity but aren’t necessarily a ‘fix-all’ like we tend to hear. Ultimately, certain strains of probiotic bacteria can work in specific conditions when taken properly – it’s all about matching the RIGHT strain, to the RIGHT child, for the RIGHT reason.
For instance, there are specific types that are evidence-based for helping with pediatric conditions like IBS, colic, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, or childhood eczema – to name a few. If you do think your child would benefit from trying probiotics, it’s best to chat with a doctor or dietitian to help you figure out which option to choose. And most importantly, you want to measure the outcomes after a certain length of time. Typically, we recommend trying a probiotic for about 4 weeks, then assessing – are symptoms better, worse, or the same? From there, remove the probiotic and assess again after a few weeks. If symptom improvement doesn’t last, your child can restart the probiotic if necessary.
The takeaway here is that your child may only need a probiotic for a short time OR perhaps not at all. In general, not every child needs a probiotic for ‘good health’ – so take that $35+ dollars per month and put it into your kid’s education fund instead!
4) Get Moving!
The gut microbiome can also be influenced by exercise, so encourage movement for your kids! In particular, aerobic activities like walking, running, swimming, or cycling appear to be beneficial to the diversity of the gut microbiota (3).
Plus, exercise helps with reducing stress and can also help with gut motility. If you have a little one who struggles with irregular bowel movements, exercise can be very helpful for stimulating the smooth muscles of the GI tract and “keeping things flowing” so to speak.
5) Distraction-Free Family Mealtimes
We live in a SUPER fast-paced world and this can often mean that meal times are rushed – especially if your kids are involved in extracurricular activities. When we eat quickly, this can increase gas production and abdominal pain. When we gulp food down, we don’t tend to chew it as well and this can mean more effort for the digestive system – which is sometimes uncomfortable!
Some tips for slowing things down at family mealtimes:
Turn off distractions like television or tablets – these things can take away from the child being engaged in the eating experience and listening to their body’s innate hunger and fullness cues. Often this type of mindless eating can result in GI upset.
Start the meal with a few deep breaths as a family – it may feel silly, but deep belly breathing signals to the parasympathetic nervous system, which tells the body to ‘rest and digest’, allowing us to digest our food better.
Make mealtimes positive – When children feel pressured to eat certain foods or ‘finish their plate’, it can create a lot of anxiety around the whole eating experience, which could also result in negative digestive symptoms.
6) Protected Bathroom Time
Similar to mealtimes, it’s important to allow enough time for your child to ‘do their business’. Different kids will require different things to be successful here. For instance, a child who has anxiety about pooping at school should have extra time to use the washroom before they leave home. Otherwise, they may end up withholding their poop all day, leading to abdominal discomfort, compacted stool and constipation. If they don’t need to poop in the morning, make sure to give them plenty of time after school to try again.
Little ones may also require extra support like a squatty potty or step stool to have the best bathroom experience. By propping their feet up on an elevated surface, this can improve the angle for them to poop, especially since they have much shorter legs than most adults!
Protected bathroom time can also mean taking away distractions in the bathroom like phones or tablets – as watching screens can distract from the task at hand. However, certain distractions like playing music may make the experience more enjoyable. It’s all about finding the right options for your child!
What About Hygiene and Your Child’s Gut Health?
I occasionally get asked about whether over-sanitizing (ie. sterilizing everything around your kids) has an impact on their gut health. You may have heard older generations say things like “We used to eat dirt and we turned out just fine!” So, what kind of impact does cleanliness truly have on gut health in kids?
In gut health research, there is something called the ‘hygiene hypothesis’. This theory indicates that limiting a baby’s exposure to various microbes can negatively impact the gut microbiome and therefore the development of the immune system (6).
Since having siblings and pets are factors that influence diversity in the gut microbiome, this hypothesis does make sense – given that kids and animals tend to carry more bacteria! Putting this into practice is a bit more ‘foggy’ – of course being clean is important, but we likely don’t need to be chasing kids down with hand sanitizer all day long. It’s okay (and probably even healthy) to get dirty!
Are Antibiotics Bad for My Child’s Gut?
Antibiotics are essential medications that help to kill bacteria that are harmful to our health. However, in the process of taking antibiotics, some of our good gut bacteria can be impacted too. In children, this is also true. Studies show that antibiotic exposure in children can reduce the quantity and diversity of beneficial microbes in the gut. This disruption to the gut microbiome from antibiotics can last up to 2 years according to research (7).
As a parent, this might leave you feeling unsure when we’re faced with the decision to put your child on antibiotics. However, the alternative is often more bleak – without antibiotic drugs for things like strep throat, ear infections, or UTIs, children can get incredibly sick. So rather than trying to avoid antibiotics at all costs, it’s best to find ways to support your child’s gut health during and after a course of antibiotics. One way to do so is to take a probiotic – this is one of those ‘ideal scenarios’ for probiotics that I had spoken about above! Ask your doctor or dietitian about which probiotic would work best if your child requires antibiotics.
In Summary
While it’s totally normal for your child to have fluctuations in their digestive health, every child is unique and sometimes GI issues can be more concerning. Recognizing poor gut health in children involves looking for patterns of discomfort, such as irregular bowel patterns, abdominal pain, or frequent gas and bloating. While there are no standardized tests for gut health, certain symptoms may warrant a visit to a doctor, dietitian, or even an allergist or immunologist.
To support your child’s gut health, focus on a diet rich in fermented foods, high-fibre foods, and consider probiotics if advised by a healthcare professional. Encouraging regular exercise, distraction-free mealtimes, and providing adequate bathroom time can also benefit gut health.
Ultimately, kids are pretty resilient and their eating habits will ebb and flow – avoiding veggies for a week or even a month isn’t likely to have a profound effect on their long-term gut health. It’s all about small habits that you can gradually incorporate over time!