Prebiotics, Probiotics and Synbiotics in Child Development
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026 | Viewed by 3
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Promoting child development is a critical issue for all societies and especially low- and middle-income countries, where 250 million (43%) children under 5 years fail to reach their developmental potential. Research in recent years has provided a much deeper understanding of the endocrine/systemic, neuronal, and immune pathways linking the gut and brain. With advances in technology, a particular focus has been the gut microbiome, encompassing microbes and their genetic material, and how this interrelates with nutrition, gut integrity and function and neurocognitive development.
A critical question following on from these new insights is whether administration of pre-, pro- and synbiotics may be a feasible, safe and cost-effective means of influencing the gut–brain axis to promote development. Early life, when the both the gut microbiota and brain are developing rapidly, may be a window of opportunity for interventions. Pre-, pro- and synbiotics may influence the gut–brain axis directly and also indirectly through modulating the child’s gut microbiota.
We are pleased to invite you to contribute original research and review articles to this Special Issue, which aims to provide novel insights into the effects of pre-, pro- and synbiotics on child development. As well as human studies, we welcome reports of research in animal models, in vitro and in silico, where these are directly relevant to children.
Prof. Dr. Stephen J. Allen
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- prebiotic
- probiotic
- synbiotic
- child development
- gut microbiome
- gut–brain axis
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