Modern characteristics of the metabolic activity of the intestinal microbiota in young children

In recent years, there has been great interest in the problem of the formation of microbiota in children of the first year of life and the long-term effects of this process, affecting the state of health in various periods of ontogenesis. Over the past 5 years, the understanding of the microbiocenosis of various human ecological niches in the scientific environment has changed significantly due to the introduction of modern genotypic approaches to the identification of microorganisms. The microbiota of the digestive tract is characterized by the widest range of diversity at the individual and population level, performs a number of important functions and determines human health as a whole. Studies of recent decades have shown the role of the microbiome, the community of microorganisms and their genomes in regulating not only various stages of metabolism and immune function, but also human behavior. A number of factors have an adverse effect on the formation of the intestinal microbiota at the early stages of development, including complicated pregnancy, violation of the endoecology of the mother, changes in gestation, operative delivery method, later application to the breast, refusal of natural feeding and artificial feeding from birth, widespread use of antibacterial drugs. In this article, the main attention will be paid to the systematization of numerous disparate data on the formation of the intestinal microbiota in children of the first year of life and the influence of the method of delivery and the nature of feeding on this process.