Developing A Balanced Gut Microbiota For Childhood Obesity Prevention: Systematic Review
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Abstract
Backgrounds: The gut microbiota is crucial for children’s metabolic health, influencing weight regulation, immune function, and nutrient absorption. Imbalances in microbiota can increase childhood obesity risk, leading to long-term health issues. Although evidence increasingly links gut health to metabolism, obesity prevention often overlooks its importance. There is a need to better understand the mechanisms by which early-life gut microbiota composition affects obesity risk and to develop personalized, evidence-based interventions for establishing and maintaining a balanced microbiota in children.
Objective: To conduct a systematic review of literature on early-life gut microbiota and the effectiveness of microbiota-targeted interventions in reducing obesity risk in children.
Methods: A systematic search was conducted in “PubMed” using MeSH terms and keywords. This search identified 580 articles, from which 146 studies met the inclusion criteria: original research on children under 5, focusing on nutrition-related conditions (malnutrition, obesity, etc.), and examining microbiota/microbiome with or without interventions. Data on study design, population, interventions, and microbiome outcomes were qualitatively synthesized to identify microbiome patterns linked to nutritional status.
Results: Evidence suggests gut microbiota influences energy balance by enhancing dietary energy absorption and regulating genes for energy storage and expenditure. Obese children often exhibit a higher Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, reduced levels of beneficial bacteria like Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia muciniphila, and increased opportunistic pathogens. Interventions with probiotics, prebiotics, fiber, dietary changes, physical activity, and synbiotic supplements show promising effects on weight reduction, metabolic markers, and gut health, particularly in obese children. Probiotic and synbiotic interventions, especially with strains like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, were effective in reducing BMI, waist circumference, and improving insulin sensitivity.
Conclusions: Interventions using probiotics, prebiotics, fiber, and lifestyle changes appear effective for reducing obesity, improving gut health, and modulating metabolic and inflammatory markers in children. Future studies should evaluate these interventions in national programs to assess their broader impact.
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