Gut testing for kids: why it might be beneficial for your child

One of the best ways to gain an in-depth understanding of our individual gut microbes is through gut testing. But what about gut testing for kids? Is it beneficial and how can it influence how we support our child's gut health?

Gut health and gut microbiome are hot topics at the moment and its with good reason. The health of our digestive system and the gut bacteria residing inside have an incredible influence on our health. Our immune system, skin health, cognitive function, metabolism, mental health and of course, digestion and absorption of nutrients all depend on a healthy gut microbiome.

One of the best ways to gain an in-depth understanding of our individual gut microbes is through gut testing. But what about gut testing for kids? Is it beneficial and how can it influence how we support our child's gut health?

Your child's gut microbiome

If you watched the recent webinar "An Introduction into Kids Gut Health" you'll have a foundational understanding about the gut and microbiota that call the digestive system home. 

The colon, also known as the large intestine, is home to the highest concentrations of species of bacteria that make up a healthy microbiome. This ecosystem contains a variety of beneficial bacteria, yeasts, viruses and other microorganisms all flourishing alongside a minimal quantity of potentially harmful or disease-producing species of bacteria.

Your child's gut microbiome begins to develop in the womb. In the first 3 months of life, the gut microbiota is incredibly vulnerable and highly impressionable. The diversity of beneficial bacteria is low and the digestive system is immature.  What occurs in the gut microbiome and gut flora in the first 3 months of life affects your child’s overall health, particularly their metabolism and immunity for the rest of their lives. The mode of delivery (whether born via the vaginal birth canal or c-section), exposure to antibiotics, breast milk, formula, the environment are all going to nourish or impair your child's gut microbiome within those early months of life.  

After 2-3 years, your child's gut microbiome is fairly established and resembles that of an adults. The diversity of beneficial microbes should be greater, but disruptions can be more frequent causing an overgrowth of certain bacterial species which in high numbers can cause damage. Dietary, lifestyle and environmental factors can impair your child's gut lining and disrupt the microbiota balance which can result in health problems from diarrhoea, constipation and bloating to allergies, skin conditions, behavioural changes, immune problems, weight gain and so on. 

Free Kids Gut Health Check-up Quiz

Take the Kids Gut Health Check-up quiz online now to see how you can best support your child's health by healing and nourishing the gut.

As parents, caregivers and health providers, we have a golden opportunity to influence a child’s overall health by paying attention to their gut. What you need to know – it’s never too late to start. Ideally, we’d like to start prenatally, but you can still gain health benefits and stop the disruptions, repair, nourish and heal the gut later in life.

The benefits of gut testing for kids

With the growth in technology, we now have gut testing available at our fingers. It's an incredibly exciting time for us to be able to gain an in-depth understanding of our child's gut microbiome. 

The test enables us to identify all the microorganisms in the gut - both beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus and harmful species. We're able to see the types, amounts of beneficial bugs and the balance of the bacterial species. We can tell what bacteria we're missing and the functions that are impaired such as our ability to digest certain nutrients. And it's not just bacteria the test can pick up. It can also provide high-resolution identification of the microorganisms such as fungi, protists and archaea. 

The gut testing available now is of such a high quality and easy to perform in the comfort of your own home.

View our gut microbiome testing options packages here.

Why is this knowledge beneficial?

As the gut is a complex system with a diverse microbiome, testing can help us identify all the species living in the gut and what species are lacking. This may help us to identify the causative factors for your child's health problems and inform the treatment approach.  

Even if there are no symptoms present, gut testing allows us to have the information we need to optimise our gut microbiome as maintaining our gut health isn't just a one-off thing. 

I like to consider the gut as a garden. It needs a great environment and soil to establish. You need to feed it regularly with a variety of foods, probiotics and prebiotics. From time to time, you may need to weed out the harmful pathogens and boost the nutrients to improve the balance. Just like a garden, maintenance is ongoing if you want it to thrive. 

The gut microbiome testing provides in-depth insights into the microorganisms living in your child’s gut and the effect on their health.

This powerful tool provides you with a detailed report about the gut bacterial species and other micro-organisms, the diversity and their function. This can inform treatment approaches or simply be used to help optimise your child’s overall health and wellbeing. Find out more about gut testing here