Nourishing Infant Immunity

Anyone who has children remembers that feeling of wanting to protect their baby from, well, everything. That’s why my colleague @Hakim Bouzamondo's recent post on the breakthrough science behind human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and their ability to nourish a baby’s immune system is worth reading and considering.

We know that strong immunity in infants, linked in part to good nutrition, is not just about fending off illness. It’s a critical building block for strong and healthy growth and development throughout life. And infant immunity matters today more than ever.

Simply put, it’s a different world of pathogens for today’s babies than it was in the not-so-distant past.

Viruses, like the flu, change rapidly and more frequently than before, becoming moving targets for the medical community to hit. And while immune systems need exposure to germs to develop, allergies, at least in the U.S., are on the rise, a sign that our immune systems aren’t developing optimally. So, it’s understandable why parents are wary to expose our children to germs –just ask any parent whose baby comes home from day care, or a play group, or a plane ride and they’ll tell you about the constant runny noses, coughs, or even more serious infections.

To help babies deal with this environment, we should think of strengthening immunity through the right nutrition – just as breast milk bolsters immunity. Ingredients in breast milk such as human milk oligosaccharides help prepare babies to fight disease. Products like infant formula with HMOs help prepare infants’ immune systems during a critical time in their development.

The good news is that today, we understand increasingly more about infant immunity, and there are multiple available options for parents to help their babies get the nutrition they need.