{"id":13145,"date":"2025-12-05T16:42:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T16:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=13145"},"modified":"2025-12-08T11:25:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:25:47","slug":"why-good-gut-health-is-important-for-childrens-immunity-and-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/winter-health\/why-good-gut-health-is-important-for-childrens-immunity-and-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Why good gut health is important for children\u2019s immunity and development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-13146\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/05162951\/vicky-1764952191-Chris-Tunks-1x1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/05162951\/vicky-1764952191-Chris-Tunks-1x1-1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/05162951\/vicky-1764952191-Chris-Tunks-1x1-1-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Chris Tunks<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Brand Manager, Optibac<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"666\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-13147\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/05163024\/vicky-1764952223-Milo-Headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Milo Pankros<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Scientific Trainer, Optibac<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Safe, well-researched supplements containing \u2018friendly\u2019 bacteria can be a simple and effective way to support children\u2019s gut and immune health.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery part of our body has a microbiome \u2014 a community of microorganisms or microbes that influences our whole body, not just the gut,\u201d explains Milo Pankros, Scientific Trainer at friendly bacteria supplement brand, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optibacprobiotics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Optibac<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe microbiome in our gut is the most densely populated of them all, and like any ecosystem, harmony is key, so we should look after it,\u201d he says. Researchers have linked the microbes in our guts to immune and digestive function, energy, skin health and more. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gut health is particularly important for babies and children, whose microbiome is still developing. Unfortunately, up to 70% of children globally receive an antibiotic in the first few years of life, which can significantly alter their microbiome development.<br><br>In addition to a healthy, varied diet, parents can introduce live culture supplements into children\u2019s daily routine, especially during antibiotics, to add specialist-friendly bacteria to the microbiome and increase beneficial gut bacteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-safe-well-researched-supplements-for-children\"><strong>Safe, well-researched supplements for children<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optibacprobiotics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Friendly bacteria supplements<\/a> can be useful because it\u2019s not always easy to get children to eat high-fibre foods, such as vegetables and whole grains, that naturally feed a good microbiome. Plus, the right supplements can&nbsp;often have easier \u2018delivery systems\u2019 than regular food&nbsp;products. \u201cChoose a high-quality friendly bacteria supplement, which has been shown to reach the gut alive,\u201d says Pankros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris Tunks, Brand Manager at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optibacprobiotics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Optibac<\/a>, notes that \u201cparents should look for safe supplements, designed specifically for children and include highly researched strains for individual needs<strong>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt should be made easy for parents to introduce supplements into their children\u2019s diet,\u201d he says. \u201cFor instance, our children\u2019s range includes a flavourless liquid&nbsp;with an easy-to-use dropper, flavourless powders that can be mixed in water or sprinkled on non-acidic foods and tasty gummies&nbsp;made with natural ingredients suitable for children aged three and over. It\u2019s about supporting parents and making it easier for them to be more proactive, rather than reactive, in terms of their children\u2019s gut health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><div style=\"text-align:center\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-button ab-block-button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optibacprobiotics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"ab-button ab-button-shape-rounded ab-button-size-medium fb-pixel\" style=\"color:#ffffff;background-color:#000000\">Click here to learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Safe, well-researched supplements containing \u2018friendly\u2019 bacteria can be a simple and effective way to support children\u2019s gut and immune health. \u201cEvery part of our body has a microbiome \u2014 a community of microorganisms or microbes that influences our whole body, not just the gut,\u201d explains Milo Pankros, Scientific Trainer at friendly bacteria supplement brand, Optibac. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/winter-health\/why-good-gut-health-is-important-for-childrens-immunity-and-development\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":13149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5883],"tags":[5994],"class_list":["post-13145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-health","tag-winter-wellbeing"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/05163924\/vicky-1764952761-GettyImages-2186722738-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/05163924\/vicky-1764952761-GettyImages-2186722738-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Mica Robertson","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/micarobertson\/"},"vicky_category_order":[{"category_id":5883,"order":"6"}],"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13145"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13168,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13145\/revisions\/13168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}