Grant: Team Grant: Intestinal Microbiomics

There are many microorganisms that normally grow in the gut and keep us healthy. Babies are born without gut organisms but pick them up early in life, usually by coming into contact with microorganisms from their mother, which creates a gut flora, or mixture of microorganisms. We will combine information collected from groups of babies in Canada (healthy full terms and preterms), Germany and The Netherlands to determine if different birth experiences and exposures early in life change how the microorganisms in the gut develop after the birth. We think that if the baby grows a gut flora early in life that is different than usual it may stay that way into later life. Other research has shown that people with obesity, allergies or diabetes have a gut flora that is different than people without those conditions. It is possible that changes in the gut flora in the early days of life may be associated with conditions later in childhood such as obesity, eczema or allergies. We will use the information collected from Canadian and European babies to determine how the gut flora changes during the first years of life and what factors cause changes. We are most interested in how breastfeeding and the introduction of foods change the gut flora. The findings of this study will give us a better idea of what to tell parents about starting their babies on solid foods and about weaning from breast milk. We will also get information about how the gut flora could be changed in babies to help prevent allergies, eczema and obesity later in life. This information has the potential to change clinical practice in Europe and North America.