Balanced News: Healthy Gut Bacteria Can Reduce Risk of Asthma and Food Allergies in Children, Experts Discover

A new Australian study has found that babies and young children with diverse bacteria in their gut are less likely to develop allergy-related wheezing and asthma. The study analyzed data from the Barwon Infant Study, which has been running in Australia since 2010, and found that a more mature gut microbiota at one year of age was associated with a lower chance of developing food allergies and asthma in childhood. The researchers are now planning a new clinical trial to see whether giving young children a mixture of dead bacteria can protect them from wheezing illnesses or asthma.