Child malnutrition has long-term effects on gut health that affect development even after treatment. [s]BBC News[/s] reports that this is according to a team that studied the gut health of malnourished children in Bangladesh and found the bacterial make-up was not fully restored to normal after food supplements were given. The finding might explain why children often fail to grow normally even after treatment. Commenting on the study, Professor Colin Hill of [s]University College Cork[/s], Ireland, said: ‘This is a really important and sophisticated study which focused on severely malnourished children, which further emphasises the importance of a mature diverse gut microbiota in human health.’ He added: ‘In the future, we will recognise that restoring the health of the gut microbiota is an important precursor to restoring the health of the child.’
[link url=http://www.bbc.com/news/health-27694156]Full BBC News report[/link]
[link url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13421.html]Nature abstract[/link]