×
The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and international interest.
  • Standard Group Plc HQ Office,
  • The Standard Group Center,Mombasa Road.
  • P.O Box 30080-00100,Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Telephone number: 0203222111, 0719012111
  • Email: [email protected]

IQs and number twos: Your baby's poo can predict how clever your child will be

Baby Care
 A link between gut bacteria and cognitive ability has been found
So apparently, a study reveals that there’s link between your baby's fecal matter and their cognitive skills.

Every parent likes to think their baby is a secret genius, regardless of whether they can actually talk yet or are still refining their motor skills.

The good news is, there's apparently a way of discovering your baby's IQ - and it's lurking in their nappy.

Combining parents' obsession with their baby's stools with their desire for them to be a clever clogs, comes research led by Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Rebecca Knickmeyer, PhD, at the UNC School of Medicine.

 A mother massaging her babies feet

What Professor Knickmeyer's pioneering study, found - published in Biological Psychiatry - was there is an interesting link between your baby's fecal matter and their cognitive skills.

Dedicated researchers had to sift through the stools of 89 one-year-olds, which were then separated into three different categories.

These categories were based on the bacterial composition of the sample and a year after being collected and tested, each child's cognitive levels were also analysed.

The 'bottom line' of the research was that children with a higher diversity of microbiomes in their poo demonstrated lower cognitive skills.

In this instance, microbiomes are microorganisms in a particular environment - such as the gut.

"The big story here is that we’ve got one group of kids with a particular community of bacteria that's performing better on these cognitive tests," said Knickmeyer, in a statement .Read More

"This is the first time an association between microbial communities and cognitive development has been demonstrated in humans."

A link between gut bacteria and cognitive ability has been found with rodents, but this is the first time similar findings have been found with humans.

However, it's far too early to instruct parents to go out and start stocking up on the probiotics for their little ones.

"It's the very first step," said coauthor Alexander Carlson, also of North Chapel Hill. "We’re not really at the point where we can say, 'Let’s give everyone a certain probiotic.'"

Related Topics


.

Recommended Articles