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Microbiome instability linked to poor growth in kids

Researchers at WashU Medicine found a link between an unstable, fluctuating gut microbiome and poor growth in children in a study that sequenced the genomic material from fecal samples collected over nearly a year from eight toddlers in Malawi. (Image: Getty Images)
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Malnutrition is a leading cause of death in children under age 5, and nearly 150 million children globally under this age have stunted growth from lack of nutrition. Although an inadequate diet is a major contributor, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found over a decade ago that dysfunctional communities of gut microbes play an important role in triggering malnutrition.