Breastfeeding may lessen socioeconomic disparities in child health through differences in the infant gut microbiome
) cohort (n = 681), we analyze modifiable pathways linking SES to child health and find that the infant gut microbiota plays a key mediating role. Breastfeeding is associated with a stabilized infant microbiota, buffering against environmental impacts and reducing health risks in lower SES contexts. The presence of Bifidobacterium infantis, enriched through breastfeeding, is linked to protection against adverse outcomes from SES. Together, these results suggest that improving breastfeeding rates and restoring breastfeeding-enriched microbes, like B. infantis, may help buffer early biological impacts of social inequality and support healthier trajectories for children growing up in industrialized settings.
Authors
- Melissa B. Manus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3640-1781)
- Courtney Hoskinson
- Charisse Petersen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4045-2610)
- Hannah Lishman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2656-5352)
- Qingling Duan
- Susan C. Campisi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1072-9228)
- B. Brett Finlay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5303-6128)
- Stuart E. Turvey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1599-1065)
- Kozeta Miliku (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9614-7191)
- Daphne J. Korczak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0061-7495)
- Søren Johannes Sørensen
- Darlene L. Y. Dai
- Jie Jiang
- David M. Patrick
- Jonathan Thorsen
- Elinor Simons
- Padmaja Subbarao
- Hind Sbihi
- Piushkumar J. Mandhane
- Theo J. Moraes
- Meghan B. Azad
- Klaus Bønnelykke
- Jakob Stokholm
- Bo Chawes
Institutions
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Queen's University (CA)
- Hospital for Sick Children (CA)
- BC Centre for Disease Control (CA)
- Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CA)
- Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (DK)
- Public Health Ontario (CA)
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre (CA)
- BC Children's Hospital (CA)
- The University of Texas at San Antonio (US)
- University of Manitoba (CA)
- UCSI University (MY)
- Hamilton Health Sciences (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cell Reports Medicine
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.102755
- Primary Topic
- Gut microbiota and health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Genome Canada
- BC Children’s Hospital Foundation
- Genome British Columbia
- Canada Research Chairs
- Provincial Health Services Authority
- University of British Columbia
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research