High-quality diet during childhood may reduce risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease

A high-quality diet starting from the age of one may reduce the chance of developing inflammatory bowel disease, according to a big long-term study published online in the journal Gut.Plenty of fish and vegetables and minimal consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks at this age may be key to protection, the findings indicate.

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A linked editorial suggests that it may now be time for doctors to recommend a ‘preventive diet’ for infants, given the mounting evidence indicative of biological plausibility.Cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are increasing globally. Although there is no obvious explanation for this trend, changes in dietary patterns are thought to have a contributory role, because of their impact on the gut microbiome.While various studies have looked at the influence of diet on IBD risk in adults, there is little in the way of research on the potential influence of early childhood diet on risk.In a bid to plug this knowledge gap, the researchers drew on survey data from the All Babies in Southeast Sweden study (ABIS) and The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).ABIS includes 21,700 children born between October