Dietary intervention of prebiotics and vitamins on gut health of children

Purpose Gut health has multidimensional impact on childhood growth and development. Diet being the major modulator of gut health, this study aims to hypothesize if supplementation of dietary prebiotics and vitamins can impact gut environment of healthy children. Design/methodology/approach A double-blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted with parallel allocation of children 8–13 years of age to placebo or test group. Test group was supplemented with 1.5 g of formulation comprising prebiotics and vitamins, and to placebo, maltodextrin (1.5 g) was supplemented. After four weeks, the effect on markers of gut health (i.e. beneficial microbes, and gut integrity markers such as secretory Immunoglobulin A [sIgA] and calprotectin concentration) was evaluated in feces of children. Findings Significant increase of 17.1% in fecal bifidobacteria counts (p = 0.04) was observed in the test group compared to placebo after four weeks. Also, fecal calprotectin concentration decreased (20%) significantly (p = 0.01) in test group compared to placebo. In addition, the test group showed significant improvement in fecal sIgA and lactobacilli compared to baseline concentration (p = 0.01 and 0.001, respectively). Research limitations/implications This study demonstrates that prebiotic (and vitamin) intervention may influence health outcomes in children by positively modulating markers of gut health. Originality/value There are limited studies demonstrating the efficacy of prebiotic and vitamins on gut health of school age children.