Infant Health
| Year | Authors | Title | Summary | Reference |
| 2022 | A. Lovell, H. Eriksen, S. McKeen, J. Mullaney, W. Young, K. Fraser, E. Altermann, N. Roy, W. McNabb, C. Wall | “Nourish to Flourish”: complementary feeding for a healthy infant gut microbiome—a non-randomised pilot feasibility study | Non-randomised feasibility study involving participants receiving a probiotic kūmara or commercially available probiotic control. Study demonstrated recruitment of infants before introducing complementary foods is feasible, with acceptable adherence to the food-based intervention. |
Pilot and Feasibility Studies |
| 2022 | Starin McKeen , Nicole C. Roy , Jane Mullaney , Hannah Eriksen, Amy Lovell , Martin Kussman , Wayne Young , Karl Fraser , Clare Wall, Warren C. McNabb | Adaptation of the infant gut microbiome during the complementary feeding transition | Study to characterize changes in healthy infant gut microbiome composition, metagenomic functional capacity, and associated metabolites over the course of the complementary feeding period. Results indicated composition of microbiome diversified during the first year of life, while the functional capacity present in the gut microbiome remained stable. The study establishes trends in microbiome composition and functional capacity occurring during the complementary feeding period and identifies potential metabolite targets for future investigations. |
PLOS ONE |
| 2021 | McKeen S, Roy NC, Mullaney J, Eriksen H, Lovell A, Kussman M, Young W, Fraser K, Wall C, McNabb WC. | Type of Milk Feeding and Introduction to Complementary Foods in Relation to Infant Sleep: A Systematic Review | Review of existing literature on infant sleep and its relation to the timing of introduction to complementary foods and type of milk feeding to better understand their role(s) in infant sleep. Exclusively breastfed infants (≤6 months-of-age) had a greater number of night wakings, but most studies (67%) reported no difference in night-time and 24 h sleep duration compared to formula-fed infants. However, after 6 months-of-age, most studies (>65%) reported breastfed infants to sleep less in the night-time and over 24 h compared to formula-fed infants. Studies reported no association between the timing of introduction to complementary foods and infant sleep duration (<12 months-of-age). |
Nutrients |
| 2020 | Heath A, Haszard J, Galland B, Lawley B, Rehrer N, Drummond L, Sims I, Taylor R, Otal A, Taylor B, and Tannock G. | Association between the faecal short-chain fatty acid propionate and infant sleep | An assessment of whether short-chain fatty acids (from indigestible plant sugars) are associated with longer uninterrupted sleep in infants. A higher proportion of total faecal short-chain fatty acids was associated with longer uninterrupted infant sleep. |
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 74: 1362 |
| 2020 | McKeen S, Wall C, Eriksen H, Lovell A, Mullaney J, Young W, Fraser K, Roy N, McNabb W. | Connecting Infant Complementary Feeding Patterns with Microbiome Development | A look at the food groups that modulate the infant gut microbiome between 6 -12 months of age. Food intake data suggests that legumes, eggs, dairy, breastmilk and infant formula are most influential on microbial metabolic pathways. |
Current Developments in Nutrition 4 (Suppl 2): 1034 |
| 2019 | McKeen S, Young W, Mullaney J, Fraser K, McNabb W, and Roy N. | Infant Complementary Feeding of Prebiotics for the Microbiome and Immunity | A review of introducing complex, non-digestible carbohydrates to infants during the stage of complementary feeding, which promotes intestinal barrier integrity and immune development. |
Nutrients 11(2): 364 |
| 2018 | Michelini S, Balakrishnan B, Parolo S, Matone A, Mullaney J, Young W, Gasser O, Wall C, Priami C, Lombardo R, Kussmann M. | A reverse metabolic approach to weaning: in silico identification of immune-beneficial infant gut bacteria, mining their metabolism for prebiotic feeds and sourcing these feeds in the natural product space | Identification of an optimal weaning food for infant gut bacteria proliferation is determined by identifying the metabolite requirements of beneficial gut bacteria, determining the nutrients that contain these metabolites and, in turn, uncovering a potential ‘first food’ to boost the immune system of infants in the critical stage of complementary feeding. |
Microbiome 6: 171 |