Early Life Nutrition: A Key Factor in Reducing the Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

A high quality diet at the age of 1 may curb the subsequent risk of inflammatory bowel disease, suggests a large long term study, published online in the journal Gut.

Plenty of fish and vegetables and minimal consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks at this age may be key to protection, the findings indicate. A linked editorial suggests that it may now be time for doctors to recommend a ‘preventive’ diet for infants, given the mounting evidence indicative of biological plausibility.

Cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are increasing globally. Although there is no obvious explanation for this trend, changes in dietary patterns are thought to have a contributory role, because of their impact on the gut microbiome.

While various studies have looked at the influence of diet on IBD risk in adults, there is little in the way of research on the potential influence of early childhood diet on risk.

In a bid to plug this knowledge gap, the researchers drew on 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; MoBa includes 114, 500 children, 95,200 mothers, and 75,200 fathers recruited from across Norway between 1999 and 2008.

Parents were asked specific questions about their children’s diet when they were aged 12-18 months and 30-36 months. The final analysis included dietary information for 81,280 1 year olds: 11,013 (48% girls) from ABIS and 70, 267 (49% girls) from MoBa.

Diet quality, gleaned from measuring intake of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, dairy, sweets, snacks, and drinks, was assessed using a modified version of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scoring system, adapted for children. The weekly frequency of specific food groups was also assessed.

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 HEI score. The total score was divided into thirds to indicate a low, medium, or high quality diet.

Reference: High quality diet in early life may curb subsequent inflammatory bowel disease risk; BMJ JOURNAL, Gut; DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2023-330971