{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,14]],"date-time":"2025-11-14T10:43:05Z","timestamp":1763116985539,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,6]],"date-time":"2023-01-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1672963200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"FrieslandCampina"},{"name":"fee waiver"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A healthy gut during early childhood is important. However, it seems that there are no standard indicators used to assess it. Healthcare professionals (HCPs) were asked via an electronic survey question about gut health indicators (GHIs) for infants and toddlers, in addition to an estimated prevalence of infant\u2019s functional constipation (FC) and its management. HCPs from eight countries participated in the survey (Russia (66.0%, 1449), Indonesia (11.0%, 242), Malaysia (6.0%, 132), Mexico (5.7%, 125), KSA (5.1%, 113), Turkey (3.0%, 66), Hong Kong (2.2%, 49), and Singapore (1.0%, 23)). The 2199 participating respondents were further classified into three continents (Asia (20.2%), Europe (68.8%), and others (11.0%)). Most of them were pediatricians (80.3%), followed by pediatric gastroenterologists (7.0%), general practitioners (6.4%), and others (6.3%). The top three preferred GHIs were similar for infants and toddlers: an absence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, effective digestion\/absorption as assessed by normal growth, and a general feeling of well-being. The absence of GI-related infection was the least preferred indicator. Most of the respondents reported the prevalence of FC among infants was less than 5%, with the peak incidence between the ages of 3 and 6 months. The reported choices of intervention to manage FC in infants were a change to a specific nutritional solution from a standard formula (40.2%), parental reassurance (31.7%), and lactulose (17.0%). Conclusion: The HCPs in the eight countries preferred the absence of GI symptoms, normal growth for effective digestion and absorption, and general well-being as the gut health indicators in infants and toddlers. The reported prevalence of FC in infants was less than 5%.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu15020298","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,9]],"date-time":"2023-01-09T04:42:17Z","timestamp":1673239337000},"page":"298","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Early-Life Gut Health Indicators and Reported Prevalence of Infant Functional Constipation by Healthcare Professionals"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9987-2041","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Leilani","family":"Muhardi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"FrieslandCampina AMEA, Singapore 039190, Singapore"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dianne J. M.","family":"Delsing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"FrieslandCampina, 3818 LE Amersfoort, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Irina","family":"Zakharova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Russian Medical Academy Continuous Professional Education of the Ministry of Health of Russian Federation, Moscow 125993, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Koen","family":"Huysentruyt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"KidZ Health Castle, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2098-2270","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sze-Yee","family":"Chong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh 30450, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ruey Terng","family":"Ng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andy","family":"Darma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60131, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5924-1664","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Badriul","family":"Hegar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta 10430, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8434-2109","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohammed","family":"Hasosah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah 14611, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Jeddah 11481, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Erick","family":"Toro-Monjaraz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Physiology and Gastrointestinal Motility, Gastroenterology and Nutrition Department, National Institute of Pediatrics, Mexico City 04530, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7344-8637","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Merih","family":"Cetinkaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neonatology, Health Sciences University, Basaksehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital, Istanbul 34480, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chung-Mo","family":"Chow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virtus Medical Group, Hong Kong"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marion M.","family":"Aw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Paediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119077, Singapore"},{"name":"Department of Paediatrics, Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children\u2019s Medical Institute, National University Health System, Singapore 119228, Singapore"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Urszula","family":"Kudla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"FrieslandCampina, 3818 LE Amersfoort, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Louise Naz","family":"West","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"FrieslandCampina, 3818 LE Amersfoort, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1862-8651","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yvan","family":"Vandenplas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"KidZ Health Castle, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104882","DOI":"10.1016\/j.idairyj.2020.104882","article-title":"Milk protein coagulation under gastric conditions: A review","volume":"113","author":"Huppertz","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. 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