Thanks to the internet and a growing interest in holistic health, I'm hoping you have heard about the gut microbiome? In case you haven’t, your microbiome is the trillions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live inside your gastrointestinal tract. They help to foster your mental and physical wellbeing and play an essential role in your ability to assimilate nutrients, eliminate wastes, and ward off seasonal ills and chills.
What you may not know is that the development of our inner microbial rainforest takes place during our earliest years of life. From the day we are born until the time we go to school, our microbiome utilises the food we eat, and the environment we are exposed to, to establish its foundations. This makes these years an important time to help our children build their gut health and give them the best start to life.
Gut health beyond digestion
While the gut’s primary function is to aid digestion, remove waste, and aid in the absorption of nutrients, it also heavily influences our immune system and can communicate with the rest of the body, particularly the brain. Research suggests that the health of the microbiome during early childhood can influence a child's risk of developmental and mood challenges, allergies, asthma, and eczema.
Simple tips to foster good gut health in kids
Here are some quick tips for parents to help your child eat healthy and foster their microbiome development:
- Getting children to eat healthy can be challenging at best (most parents reading this will be nodding their heads right now). One of the best ways to encourage your kids to eat more gut-friendly foods is to do it yourself, role model the behaviour you want to see by eating mostly whole foods and filling up your plate with colourful plant foods at every meal.
- Encourage good behaviour and eating choices with positivity. We all respond well to words of encouragement. “Wow, you ate all of your broccoli—good job!” works better than the offer of ice cream as a reward for good behaviour. Positive reinforcement helps children to establish a healthy relationship with food instead of based on reward and punishment (known as the “dieting mentality”).
- Invite your kids to prepare the food with you. Children are much more invested in the meal when they’re active participants in the preparation. No one likes being told what to do, humans young and old all like to feel like they have options. Offering kids the choice of what colourful fruits and vegetables they would like on their plate encourages them to eat what they have selected.
- Let them get dirty and encourage outdoor play. Our microbiome is not only fostered by the food we eat but also by the environment we grow up in. Dirt and animal exposure can help to broaden our microbiome diversity and foster greater immune resilience.
Introducing BePure Kids Daily Probiotic - A targeted and broad spectrum probiotic and prebiotic blend designed to support your child's gut health, immune system, eczema, digestion, antibiotic recovery, and healthy growth and development. BePure Kids Daily Probiotic also contains a targeted dose of L. Rhamnosus HN001 to promote itchy-free skin at any age. It’s easy to use - just add ⅓ tsp of the neutral-tasting powder to any cold food or drink.
For expert support with your fostering childs gut health please book in for a free clinic discovery call.
