A caesarean birth has been associated with obesity, differences in the functioning of the immune system and both cognitive and emotional development. One possible mechanism is that a caesarean as opposed to a vaginal birth, results in differences in the nature of bacteria in the intestines, as passing through the birth canal offers an important source of bacteria to populate the gut. There is increasing evidence that the central and the enteric nervous system (controls the gastrointestinal system), communicate in a bidirectional manner by neural, endocrine and immune mechanisms to the extent that the enteric nervous system has been described as the "second brain". As the nature of the diet also plays a major role in the defining the bacterial composition of the gut, the objective is to consider whether it is possible to use diet to either potentiate or reduce the consequences of the type of birth? A related question is whether taking an anti-biotic, that inevitably influences the bacteria in the gut, has long-term consequences? It is known, for example, that the taking of anti-biotics increases the rate of growth. Similarly the interaction between taking anti-biotics and diet will be examined. Several aspects of diet will be considered, for example it is known that the fibre content of the diet and the consumption of high levels of fat and protein, amongst other dimensions of diet, have implications for the number and nature of the bacteria in the gut with consequences for inflammation.