Infant feeding practices and gut microbiota in a cohort study in Brazilian Western Amazon

Abstract

The first thousand days of life, the period from the beginning of gestation to two years of age, constitutes a dual phase for the health profile or morbidities, and is also a determining period for the composition of the intestinal microbiota throughout life cicle. The composition of the microbiota was selected evolutionarily along the time in a way parallel to the human evolution, dictating a symbiotic relationship with essential metabolic and immunological influences for the host. The present study aims to investigate the feeding practices associated with intestinal microbiota composition in the first year of life in the MINA-Brazil Study (Maternal and Child Health in Acre: birth cohort of the Brazilian Western Amazon). In addition to data on weight and length of children in the first year of life, obstetric and postnatal exposure factors associated with the composition of the intestinal microbiota will also be analyzed. Considering the age range of the study population, the role of feeding practices in the establishment of a healthy or potentially pathogenic intestinal colonization will be analyzed, considering the history of antibiotic use and morbidities in the first year of life. Key-words: gut microbiota, child health, complementary feeding, birth cohort, Western Brazilian Amazon.