Infant dietary intake of yogurt and cheese and gastroenteritis at 1 year of age: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Mari Nakamura,Hidekuni Inadera,Kei Hamazaki,Akiko Tsuchida,Kenta Matsumura,Haruka Kasamatsu,Rosa Del Campo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0223495

Abstract

BackgroundThe important role played by intestinal bacterial flora in human health has recently attracted public attention worldwide. Although yogurt is thought to help in preventing the onset of gastroenteritis, this property has rarely been examined in epidemiological studies.MethodThis study analyzed data obtained by the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. From a dataset of 103,062 pregnancies, 82,485 were selected for this analysis. Dietary intake of fermented foods (yogurt and cheese) in 1-year-old infants was assessed with a food frequency questionnaire. Parent-reported physician-diagnosed gastroenteritis in early childhood was determined from a questionnaire conducted when the child was 1 year old.ResultThe incidence of gastroenteritis was significantly lower in infants who consumed yogurt ≥ 7 and 3–6 times/week than in infants who consumed yogurt < 1 time/week in crude models (n = 82,485) and after adjustment for covariates (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.78 [0.70–0.86] versus 0.82 [0.76–0.89], respectively; n = 65,051). Frequency of weekly cheese consumption was not associated with the incidence of gastroenteritis.ConclusionConsumption of yogurt, but not cheese, at 1 year of age was associated with a reduced risk of gastroenteritis. Further studies of this association, including interventional studies, are warranted.

Highlights

Probiotics are thought to be strongly associated with microbiota, based on the theory of longevity proposed by Metchnikoff in 1907 that posits the ingestion of yogurt containing Lactobacillus bulgaricus establishes Lactobacillus flora in the intestine, thereby inhibiting the growth of “putrefactive” bacteria and preventing autointoxication [1].Various studies have examined the benefits of probiotics in gastroenteritis, and several clinical studies have found that probiotics can shorten the duration of diarrhea [2,3,4,5]
Consumption of yogurt, but not cheese, at 1 year of age was associated with a reduced risk of gastroenteritis
In a questionnaire survey on the use of probiotic supplements in infants aged 0–18 months and related factors in Taiwan, Chen et al [12] determined that use of probiotic supplements was positively associated with parents’ higher educational level, higher household income, and healthy lifestyle and that frequency of diarrhea was reduced to a greater extent in infants receiving probiotic between 0 and 6 months of age than in those receiving probiotics between 7 and 18 months and between 0 and 18 months

Summary

Introduction

Probiotics are thought to be strongly associated with microbiota, based on the theory of longevity proposed by Metchnikoff in 1907 that posits the ingestion of yogurt containing Lactobacillus bulgaricus establishes Lactobacillus flora in the intestine, thereby inhibiting the growth of “putrefactive” bacteria and preventing autointoxication [1].Various studies have examined the benefits of probiotics in gastroenteritis, and several clinical studies have found that probiotics can shorten the duration of diarrhea [2,3,4,5]. Probiotics are thought to be strongly associated with microbiota, based on the theory of longevity proposed by Metchnikoff in 1907 that posits the ingestion of yogurt containing Lactobacillus bulgaricus establishes Lactobacillus flora in the intestine, thereby inhibiting the growth of “putrefactive” bacteria and preventing autointoxication [1]. A study conducted in the Republic of Korea demonstrated that, compared with placebo, Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus acidophilus had strong anti-rotavirus activity and significantly shortened the duration of the symptoms without adverse events [6]. In a study in Finland of 40 patients with diarrhea, compared with placebo, Lactobacillus reuteri was associated with a smaller proportion of symptomatic patients on day 2 (26% vs 81%, p = 0.0005) and short treatment duration (1.7 days vs 2.9 days, p = 0.07) [7]. Yogurt is thought to help in preventing the onset of gastroenteritis, this property has rarely been examined in epidemiological studies

Methods

Results

Conclusion