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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : June 6, 2014 12:56 PM IST
Malnutrition does not affect children's tissues only, it severely affects healthy intestinal microbes too, a new study reveals. Gut microbiota is known to contribute to immune function and nutrient extraction. The mix of microbes in people's gut gets established early on in childhood and plays a large part in keeping kids healthy. But starvation disrupts the development of a healthy microbiome, according to a new study that compared the gut microbiota of healthy and severely malnourished children in the first two years after birth.
The children were from a slum area in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This disruption persisted even after the malnutrition was treated with high-nutrient foods. 'The results suggest the mix of gut microbiota, which is known to contribute to immune function and nutrient extraction, could play a significant role in the pathology of malnutrition,' explained Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University in St Louis. To determine the composition of normal microbiota and how they develop, a team of researchers led by Gordon took monthly faecal samples from 12 healthy children from the slum over the first two years of life. (Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2014: Do any of the parties care about malnutrition in children?)
When the researchers analysed the gut microbiota of starving children from the same part of Dhaka, however, they found that the microbial composition did not correspond to the children's actual age. Instead, it was that expected in a younger child. The discrepancy was greatest in the most severely malnourished children. Moreover, although the microbiota temporarily 'matured' after feeding treatment had improved the children's weight and nutritional status, it soon returned to a 'young for age' status. (Read: Tackling malnutrition is easy: NGOs)
The well-nourished children had a resilient microbiome. Although its composition changed, for example, during diarrhoeal infections, it returned to the normal state within a month or so. The study has been published online in the journal Nature.
What is malnutrition?
Malnutrition refers to the condition resulting from an unbalanced diet where certain nutrients are either lacking or taken in excess. Under-nutrition and over-nutrition are both related to various diseases. Under-nutrition, particularly in the developmental years in children, is linked to stunted growth. One out of four children in the world is stunted due to malnutrition and over 923 million people are undernourished. On the other hand, over-nutrition is linked to overconsumption of nutrients and leads to obesity-related lifestyle diseases like heart diseases, diabetes, strokes and hypertension. According to some research findings, over-nutrition leads to thirty five million deaths every year.
With inputs from IANS
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