The PENSINE research project aims to identify the role played by eating and lifestyle habits in the intestinal health of children, from conception to the age of four years. By monitoring more than 300 voluntary mother-child pairs, the project will study the diets of pregnant women as well as their clinical histories and lifestyles and the nutrition of their infants. Changes in feeding patterns, the use of pre/probiotics during this period, the various treatments administered and the age at which children are introduced to solid foods will provide input for a database for researchers. 

This research will be undertaken within the Jeanne de Flandres maternity department in Lille, which has the highest birth rate in Europe. The data collected will then provide a basis for new guidelines for future parents, in order to prevent chronic intestinal infections in childhood.