As a parent, watching your child navigate health challenges can be overwhelming. Seeing them go through countless doctor appointments without clear answers or solutions is frustrating.

A functional approach to pediatric health offers a different perspective, with gut health playing a crucial role. The state of your child’s gut health impacts their developing immune system, behavior, and overall well-being. By focusing on pediatric gut health, your child can be set up for long term wellness instead of simply managing symptoms and flare ups.

In this blog, we’ll explore the factors that influence your child’s gut health, how gut health affects a child’s body, and the principles of functional pediatric gut health. This is not a treatment plan, but rather a sneak-peak into topics that your functional provider will dive into.

What is the Gut?

Your child’s gut is a complex ecosystem filled with trillions of tiny organisms like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. It’s the pathway between your child’s external environment and internal body systems. 

Beyond its role in digestion, the gut influences the immune system, regulates inflammation, affects mood, controls nutrient absorption, and maintains gastrointestinal health.

Why is a Kid’s Gut Health Important?

Gut imbalance, AKA dysbiosis, is often a root-cause of a child’s health issues like allergies, chronic inflammation, behavioral problems, and GI irregularity.

Ignoring the gut’s power could prevent progress in any of your child’s health issues. Nurturing the gut at a young age is vital to preventing life-long allergies, chronic illness, or mental health struggles.

The Importance of Gut Diversity for Kids

Throughout this blog, and with any functional medicine care, you’ll hear about gut diversity. Gut diversity refers to the variety of bacteria and other microorganisms present in the gut. We always strive for a diverse gut!

Think of a diverse gut like a well-rounded baseball team with each player in their rightful position—pitchers, infielders, outfielders. Each player brings unique and necessary skills for each part of the game. Now imagine a team made up entirely of pitchers—this would lead to imbalances and ineffective play!

Similarly, a diverse gut microbiome enables various microorganisms to work together synergistically. It allows the different microorganisms to address different functions. Also, the diversity better equips the microbiome to handle changes in the gut or introduction of pathogens.

Understanding Your Child’s Gut Health

There’s no single factor that determines your child’s gut health. Every gut is unique.

With that being said, there are influences:  life in the womb, antibiotic use, birth delivery, food, stress, and toxin exposure. Research indicates that these influences can impact the gut microbiome and may increase the risk of certain health conditions.

Mom’s Microbiome

While your child was in the womb, they received nourishment through the umbilical cord and were surrounded by the maternal gut microbiome. As a result, the maternal bacteria and genes influence the child’s microbiome through a process called “horizontal gene transfer”.

Type of Birth Delivery

Vaginal birth exposes a baby to a richer diversity of bacteria, including Bacteroides, Bifidobacteria, and Lactobacillus. The exposure is the result of the direct contact with the mother’s vaginal microbiome.

On the other hand, cesarean births are less diverse. These births are more sterile and do not have direct exposure to the microbiome. Instead, the baby receives bacteria from skin.

Antibiotics

Any antibiotics taken during pregnancy are transferred to the fetus and then potentially impact the transfer of beneficial bacteria. Also, antibiotics during the first month of life can reduce bacterial diversity and promote overgrowth of harmful bacteria. 

Diet

A high protein diet supports a healthy gut lining, strengthens immunity, and promotes the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Alternatively, a diet high in fat or sugar can disrupt the microbiome and lead to imbalances.

Stress

Stress is not just a mental state; it triggers the production of a hormone called cortisol. Chronic and acute cortisol production promotes the growth of harmful bacteria and affects your child’s gut’s interior (lumen) and exterior (mucosal lining).

Toxins

Toxins affect bacteria diversity and function of your child’s gut. Heavy metals and pesticides reduce microbiome diversity, while preservatives and Bisphenols (BPA) disrupt function.

How Does a Child’s Gut Affect the Body?

Functional medicine providers care about the gut so much because it’s the epicenter of system functions. Gut health affects immunity, mood/behavior, inflammation, and GI tract. Monitoring this connection is especially important for children since they’re still developing.

gut health and Immunity in kids

Approximately 70% of your child’s immune system’s cells live in the gut. Since your child is still in their formative years, your child’s microbiome diversity plays a key role in how the immune system responds to threats and evolves long-term. 

A diverse pediatric gut microbiome builds a strong immune defense that defeats threats. Otherwise, a less diverse microbiome increases vulnerability to infections and long-term allergies and autoimmune conditions.

gut health and CHILD BEHAVIOR

Did you know that 80-90% of serotonin is produced in the gut?

The brain and gut are connected through a communication network called the gut-brain axis. Within this pathway, your child’s gut sends signaling information to the brain and helps regulate inflammation. 

When a kid’s gut is imbalanced, it can send faulty signals and produce less serotonin. A child’s imbalanced gut may cause low mood, difficulty concentrating, or behavioral issues. Gut health for kids with ADHD and gut health for kids with autism is especially meaningful; a gut imbalance may be exacerbating mood symptoms or causing food restrictions.

gut health and child’s Inflammation

Inflammation is the body’s natural way of protecting itself. However, there are times when the body sends too many inflammation signals and attacks without merit. A child’s inflamed gut can send messages to inflame the GI tract, brain, tissues. This inflammation can become an auto-immune disease or chronic illness into your child’s adulthood if not caught early.

gut health and kid’s Gastrointestinal (GI) Function

The gut is responsible for digestion, nutrient absorption, and maintaining GI tract health. If the gut is not functioning properly, it can cause constipation, diarrhea, bloating, and abdominal pain. Irregular bowel movements may cause nutrient deficiencies from malabsorption. 

What to Expect at a Pediatric Gut Health Appointment

Your pediatric gut health appointment will focus on your child’s current microbiome state, how to make changes for the future, and goal-setting. 

While some factors are no longer in your control (like method of delivery), there is opportunity to make positive changes for what you can control. By adjusting antibiotic use, improving diet, managing stress, and reducing exposure to toxins, your child can heal and restore their gut health.

Stool Samples – CHILD GUT HEALTH TEST

Stool samples are used as a child gut health test to understand what’s happening in your child’s gut. Your provider will analyze the results and cross-reference with symptoms or conditions your child is experiencing.

From this analysis, your provider can identify potential root-causes to your child’s health issues and see a baseline of your child’s microbiome state. Then, when improvements arrive, another stool sample is a helpful touchpoint to track that progress.

Pediatric stool samples may reveal: 

– Low levels of good bacteria

– Overgrowth of bad bacteria

– Parasites

– Yeast/fungi

– Immune system capacity

– Low levels of digestive enzymes

– Parasitic infection

– Gluten sensitivity

– High levels of good bacteria

– Gut inflammation

The 5R Protocol

After your provider gets the data about what’s inside your child’s gut, they will likely use the 5R Protocol to help heal your child’s gut. Although this may seem intimidating at first, your provider is here to listen and take it slow with you and your child. As pediatric providers, they understand questions and concerns you and your child may have. Your provider will work with you to make this protocol as accessible as possible.  

Remove

The first step, remove, means taking out anything that could be harming your child’s gut. Removal may include antibiotics, antifungals, or certain foods.

Replace

Then, your provider will replenish your child’s natural digestive components to support digestion and nutrient absorption. They may recommend digestive enzymes, SCFAs, Hydrochloric Acid (HCL), or bile acids.

Reinoculate

After replenishment, the renioculate stage puts beneficial bacteria back in your child’s gut for a balanced and healthy microbiome. Your provider may recommend the best gut health probiotics and prebiotics for kids, and microbial-rich foods. 

Repair

Step four is all about repairing the gut lining and supporting tissues that may have been damaged by inflammation or stress. Your provider may recommend collagen supplements, bone broth, or glutamine. 

Rebalance

Finally, step 5 is rebalance for long-term wellness. This step emphasizes managing stress and well-being. Your provider may recommend deep breathing, meditation, and other stress-relieving techniques for kids.

Nurturing Your Child’s Gut for Long-Term Health

Supporting your child’s gut health is key to boosting their health and wellness, both now and through adulthood. 

Factors like diet, toxins, and stress can impact gut health, but there are actionable steps you can take to promote healing. Meeting with a functional provider puts the pieces together to understand your child’s gut health. Then, the provider will offer actionable steps for healing.

By nurturing a healthy gut, you’re giving your child tools to strengthen their immune system, improve their mood and behavior, reduce inflammation, and support proper digestion. 

Alive and Well Bellies Program

Our pediatric gut health program, Alive and Well Bellies, provides comprehensive support and guidance to nurture your child’s functional well-being. This three-week program includes a GI Map Stool Test, one-on-one lab interpretation with our provider, Jana, and two educational modules tailored to meet your child’s needs.

Jana is a published author (check out her book), a certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, a fellow through the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs, and has been trained through the Institute for Functional Medicine. She has extensive knowledge about pediatric gut health for children with allergies, behavioral issues, skin issues, and GI troubles. Her kind voice, thoughtful approach, and deep knowledge are a few reasons why parents and their children adore her. 

Supporting your child’s gut health is one of the most powerful ways to help them feel their best, both now and in the future. There is hope for healing from the inside out. To support you on your journey, we are offering $100 off the Alive and Well Bellies Program FOR A LIMITED TIME. Don’t wait, get started today!