The human body needs certain types of bacteria to maintain health, including those that help in digestion, fighting other infectious microorganisms, and absorbing nutrients. In children, probiotics help manage inflammatory bowel disease, reducing the duration of diarrhea associated with gastroenteritis and reducing the chances of developing allergies and eczema. When given to infants, probiotics can prevent constipation, colic, and acid reflux (Burns et al., 2017). Some of the common foods that provide probiotics include natural products such as raw cheese and cottage cheese that has been cultured from unpasteurized milk, and yogurt. In addition, some companies have developed edible probiotics meant to improve children’s health, such as Ultimate Flora, Nature’s Way, and Culturelle.
Once these probiotic products are fed to children, they provide additional bacterial species in the gut, such as Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus acidophilus (Hojsak et al., 2018). In the healthcare sector, healthcare providers may recommend that parents feed their children with probiotics as an alternative or complementary functional medicine (Gomes & Morais, 2019). For example, yogurt and cottage cheese can help treat children with such conditions as bowel infections or reduce the duration of diarrhea caused by gastroenteritis.
It is important to note that probiotics have little or no side effects because they are foods normally consumed by humans. It is interesting to note that probiotics do not contain refined ingredients, unlike other forms of medicine (Burns et al., 2017). Therefore, they are safe for consumption, especially by children and infants. I have some experience with functional medicine as my parents used to use some types in managing several conditions when we were children.
For instance, my mother would give us yogurt when we developed slight diarrhea, which would almost always work. In addition, my mother and grandmother were fond of cooking Chinese tea, claiming that it improves memory and reduces chances of developing overweight, obesity, and diabetes (Burns et al., 2017). After reading the articles and the book chapter on complementary and functional medicine, I realized they were right. Pediatric clients benefit from probiotic products like yoghurt as they increase the volume of normal flora in their guts, which will help improve digestion and avoid such conditions as constipation and diarrhea. It has bene proved beyond doubt that these products do not have side effects.
References
Burns, C. E., Dunn, A. M., Brady, M. A., Starr, N. B., Blosser, C. G., & Garzon, D. L. (2017). Pediatric primary care (2nd Ed.). Elsevier Inc.
Gomes, D. O. V. S., & Morais, M. B. D. (2019). Gut microbiota and the use of probiotics in constipation in children and adolescents: Systematic review. Revista Paulista de Pediatria, 38. Web.
Hojsak, I., Fabiano, V., Pop, T. L., Goulet, O., Zuccotti, G. V., Çokuğraş, F. C., Pettoello-Mantovani, M., & Kolaček, S. (2018). Guidance on the use of probiotics in clinical practice in children with selected clinical conditions and in specific vulnerable groups. Acta Paediatrica, 107(6), 927-937. Web.