India, June 26 -- A new study, published in Communications Biology, looked at how the lack of a helpful gut bacteria called Bifidobacterium affects babies' health in their first two years.
Notably, these bacteria are important because they help break down complex sugars in breast milk, known as human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). Also, it plays an important role in protecting babies from long-term illnesses.
The study is part of a large project called My Baby Biome, which is tracking the gut health of hundreds of babies in the U.S. over seven years. The current findings are from the first two years and include data from 412 babies between 4 and 12 weeks old, representing a mix of backgrounds across the U.S.
Researchers found that 76 perc...