DUBAI, 9 May 2007 — A symposium was held recently for UAE pediatricians and other health professionals on the topic of “Strengthening the Immune Systems of Infants”by Nutricia Babyfood.
The program, which was attended by more than 300 doctors and caregivers from across UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar, featured European and Saudi experts speaking on the health benefits of prebiotics in infant nutrition.
This topic is particularly important for mothers and healthcare providers of children who are not breastfeeding.
Prebiotics are special nutrients that encourage the friendly bacteria found naturally in the digestive system to flourish and help support a newborn’s natural defenses against potential infections. However, while they occur naturally in human breast milk, not all infant formulas contain prebiotics.
“All healthcare professionals recognize that breast milk is best for babies. However, we need to educate doctors throughout the UAE and across the Middle East that infants who are not breastfeeding can benefit from an infant formula that contains prebiotics,” said Dr. Abdulrahman Saleh Al-Frayh, Professor of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, King Saud University in Riyadh.
The presentation in Dubai is just one of four symposia that Nutricia is running to highlight recent developments in the field of prebiotics, infant nutrition and allergies. The other events are being held in Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait.
Dr. Johan Garssen, head of Immunology at Numico-Research in the Netherlands, which make Nutricia, and program leader of Immunopharmacology at the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, explained that a strong immune system can help prevent the onset of allergic reactions such as atopic dermatitis (eczema).
“Studies of prebiotics show that they stimulate the entire intestinal flora of bottle-fed infants in a similar way to breastfeeding. This, in turn, has the effect of reducing the incidence of atopic dermatitis in children participating in clinical trials,” he said.