How good bacteria can boost your child's immunity

One of the ways you can help your child boost their immune system is by giving them probiotic-rich food. — Positive Parenting

A strong immune system depends on many factors, one of which is a good digestive health.

You are probably wondering: how are these two related and how can you improve your child’s digestive health?

The basics of good health are simple enough in theory, i.e. eat healthy nutritious food, get plenty of exercise, drink enough water every day, manage stress levels and get enough sleep daily.

What you may not be aware of is the importance of something called “gut microbiota”, which is basically a collection of trillions of microorganisms that are a crucial part of our gut’s ecosystem.

Gut microbiota have many functions and help your child’s body with not just digesting food and extracting nutrients, but also influencing his immune system.

In fact, the gut has been acknowledged as the first line of defence against disease.

The Greek physician and Father of Medicine Hippocrates went so far as to say, “All disease begins in the gut.”

Those helpful bacteria

The gut, or the gastrointestinal tract, accounts for 80% of our immune system, and gut microbiota play a major role in influencing it.

But how does good bacteria help our immune system?

Well, for one thing, they form a protective layer on our intestinal walls that prevents bad bacteria from passing through.

These good bacteria can also alert our body’s immune cells to the presence of infection-causing pathogens.

Our immune cells will then attack these invaders directly.

Basically, the good bacteria in our gut microbiota support our immune system.

Although not always on the frontlines battling the bad bacteria and germs, the gut microbiota strengthens our body’s defence system.

Thus, for your child’s digestive health to remain strong, it’s best if her gut microbiota contains an optimum level of good bacteria.

Studies have shown that having a healthy gut microbiota balance enhances immunity and improves our quality of life.

These improvements can be as simple as preventing or minimising the occurrence of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea.

In 2018, a study done by researchers at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (also known as Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz UKM) showed that probiotics in the form of cultured milk drinks helped to improve symptoms in the case of irritable bowel disease.

Achieving balance

Tempeh is a good source of good bacteria for the gut. — Wikimedia Commons

So how do you achieve this gut microbiota balance in your child?

On top of the basics of good health, include probiotic-rich food in his diet, such as kimchi, tempeh, yoghurt and cultured-milk drinks.

Probiotics are essentially the “good” bacteria that provide positive benefits to health when consumed in sufficient amounts.

Some studies have found that certain diseases, such as influenza, can adversely affect gut microbiota, causing an imbalance in the ratio of good and bad bacteria.

This then affects our digestive health, which in turn affects our overall health.

As infectious diseases such as influenza are common and tend to happen frequently throughout the year, here are certain precautions that you can observe, especially during an outbreak of influenza-like illnesses such as Covid-19:

• Avoid crowded places.
• Avoid travelling overseas.
• Wear an appropriate face mask when going out (to protect yourself from infection and to protect others if you happen to be sick).
• Minimise physical proximity and/or contact with others, i.e. practice physical distancing.
• Practise good hygiene (hand sanitisation, proper hand-washing, etc).
• Avoid touching your mouth, eyes and nose, especially after touching potentially contaminated surfaces while outside.
• Exercise at home to keep healthy.
• Provide your family with good nutrition and drink sufficient water, especially if forced to stay at home because of quarantine or the movement control order.

Prof Dr Raja Affendi Raja Ali is a consultant physician and gastroenterologist. This article is courtesy of the Malaysian Paediatric Association’s Positive Parenting programme in collaboration with expert partners. For further information, please email [e-mail]. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the reader’s own medical care. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.