Fructooligosaccharide (FOS) Intake Improves <i>Bifidobacteria</i> Colonization in Gut and Reduces Diarrhoea and Common Cold Incidence in Undernourished School Children

Abstract

Ninety per cent of the immune system resides in the gut and improvement in the gut health may lead to reduced incidence of infection. Hence the present study was undertaken to evaluate Fructooligosaccharide (FOS) supplementation on gut health impacting diarrhoeal morbidities, common cold and nutritional status of school going children (SGC). A randomized clinical trial was used to study 60 undernourished SGC who were randomly stratified into placebo (PG) and experimental group (EG). Incidence of diarrhoea and common cold were recorded for one month and during intervention. PG and EG were supplemented with plain sugar ice cream and FOS incorporated ice cream (100 ml) for 30 days respectively. Lactic acid bacteria; <em>Bifidobacteria</em> and <em>E.coli</em> in stool samples were analyzed using standard methods. Children who consumed ice cream with FOS showed significant improvement in the mean log counts of beneficial gut microbiota i.e. <em>Bifidobacteria</em> and Lactic acid bacteria by 29% (p=0.000) and 2.56% (p<0.04) respectively, along with 2.38% (p=0.000) reduction in <em>E.coli</em>. Diarrhoeal episodes were significantly lowered by 79.6% in EG. Common cold was reduced by 82.38% (p=0.000) in EG and 57.86% (p=0.000) in PG. FOS intervention however did not show any improvement in the anthropometric measurements. Daily consumption of 10 g of FOS for 30 days effectively enhanced the counts of <em>Bifidobacteria</em> and Lactic acid bacteria in the gut and may have impacted significant reduction in diarrhoeal episodes and counts of <em>E.coli</em> in SGC of low income families.