Toddlers fed a high-quality diet – rich in fish and veg but low in sugary drinks – are 25 percent less likely to suffer from inflammatory bowel disease later in life, according to new research.
The findings, published in the BMJ journal Gut suggest that what we eat at just 12 months of age may be key to protecting against the debilitating condition.
And experts say that it may now be time for doctors to recommend a preventive diet for infants.
Cases of inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are increasing worldwide.
Although there is no obvious explanation for the worrying trend, changes in dietary patterns are thought to play a role, because of their impact on the gut microbiome.
While several studies have looked at the influence of diet on IBD risk in adults, little research on the potential influence of early childhood diet on risk has been conducted.
The Scandinavian research team used survey data from the All Babies in Southeast Sweden study (ABIS) and The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).
ABIS includes 21,700 children born between October 1997 and October 1999 while MoBa includes 114,500 children, 95,200 mothers, and 75,200 fathers recruited around Norway between 1999 and 2008.
Parents were asked questions about their children’s diet when they were aged 12 to 18 months and 30 to 36 months.
Diet quality – gleaned from measuring intake of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, dairy, sweets, snacks, and drinks – was assessed using a scoring system. The weekly frequency of specific food groups was also assessed.
Study author Dr. Annie Guo, of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said: “Higher diet quality – a higher intake of vegetables, fruit, and fish, and a lower intake of meat, sweets, snacks, and drinks – was reflected in a higher score.
“The total score was divided into thirds to indicate a low, medium, or high-quality diet.”
The children’s health was monitored for up to 21 years from the age of 12 months.
A total of 307 children were diagnosed with IBD during the study period. The average age at diagnosis was 17 among the ABIS group and 12 in the MoB group.
Dr. Guo said: “Medium and high-quality diets at the age of one were associated with an overall 25 percent lower risk of IBD compared with a low-quality diet at this age, after adjusting for potentially influential factors, such as a parental history of IBD, the child’s sex, ethnic origin, and education and co-existing conditions in the mother.
“Specifically, high fish intake at the age of one was associated with a lower overall risk compared with its opposite, and a 54 percent lower risk of ulcerative colitis in particular.
“Higher vegetable intake at one year of age was also associated with a reduced risk of IBD.
“On the other hand, consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks was associated with a 42 percent heightened risk.”
Dr. Guo says there were no obvious associations between any of the other food groups – including meat, dairy, fruit, grains, potatoes and foods high in sugar or fat, and overall IBD or Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis risks.
She said: “By the age of three, only high fish intake was associated with reduced IBD risk, and ulcerative colitis in particular.
“The findings remained unchanged after accounting for household income and the child’s formula intake and antibiotic use by the age of one.”
Dr. Guo added: “While non-causal explanations for our results cannot be ruled out, these novel findings are consistent with the hypothesis that early-life diet, possibly mediated through changes in the gut microbiome, may affect the risk of developing IBD.”
Commenting on the findings, leading gastroenterologist Dr. Ashwin Ananthakrishnan cautioned that the questionnaires didn’t capture elements, such as additives and emulsifiers which are common in baby food, and which may contribute to the development of IBD.
Dr. Ananthakrishnan, of Massachusetts General Hospital in the US, says accurate measures of food intake in babies and young children are fraught with difficulty.
But he believes that it may be time to recommend a ‘preventive’ diet, particularly as it is likely to have other health benefits.
Dr. Ananthakrishnan said: “Despite the absence of gold standard interventional data demonstrating a benefit of dietary interventions in preventing disease, in my opinion, it may still be reasonable to suggest such interventions to motivated individuals that incorporate several of the dietary patterns associated with lower risk of IBD from this and other studies.
“This includes ensuring adequate dietary fiber, particularly from fruit and vegetables, intake of fish, minimizing sugar-sweetened beverages and preferring fresh over processed and ultra-processed foods and snacks.”
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
