Current Nutritional Therapy Approaches in Pediatric Inflammatory Diseases

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, recurrent immune disorder of unknown etiology that affects millions of people globally. The etiopathogenesis of IBD is complex and involves the interaction of genetic, environmental, and microbial factors and immunological responses. Although there is no known definitive treatment for IBD, the main goal is to provide a medical and surgical treatment and nutritional intervention that reverses the mucosal inflammatory response, maintains disease remission, prevents malignancy, optimizes nutrition, and improves quality of life. Diet and nutritional factors are important environmental factors that play a role in the etiology of IBD. It is known that the Western diet, characterized by high amounts of fat and refined sugar, and low amounts of fiber and vegetables, exacerbates chronic inflammation in the gut and is associated with increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines, impaired intestinal permeability and intestinal microbiota changes. The main goals of nutritional therapy in pediatric IBD are to relieve symptoms, maintain remission, improve quality of life, ensure normal growth and development, and prevent complications. Multidisciplinary evaluation of children with IBD should be encouraged and nutritional recommendations should be developed individually. Medical nutrition therapy, which is considered as the only treatment option in some cases, is also of great importance in terms of preventing the progression of the disease, nutrient deficiencies, malnutrition or other long-term complications.