Can prebiotics help tackle the childhood obesity epidemic?
Open Access
- 26 May 2023
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Frontiers in Endocrinology
- Vol. 14, 1178155
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1178155
Abstract
Globally, excess weight during childhood and adolescence has become a public health crisis with limited treatment options. Emerging evidence suggesting the involvement of gut microbial dysbiosis in obesity instills hope that targeting the gut microbiota could help prevent or treat obesity. In pre-clinical models and adults, prebiotic consumption has been shown to reduce adiposity partially via restoring symbiosis. However, there is a dearth of clinical research into its potential metabolic benefits in the pediatric population. Here, we provide a succinct overview of the common characteristics of the gut microbiota in childhood obesity and mechanisms of action of prebiotics conferring metabolic benefits. We then summarize available clinical trials in children with overweight or obesity investigating the effects of prebiotics on weight management. This review highlights several controversial aspects in the microbiota-dependent mechanisms by which prebiotics are thought to affect host metabolism that warrant future investigation in order to design efficacious interventions for pediatric obesity.This publication has 93 references indexed in Scilit:
- A new highly penetrant form of obesity due to deletions on chromosome 16p11.2Nature, 2010
- Changes in gut microbiota control inflammation in obese mice through a mechanism involving GLP-2-driven improvement of gut permeabilityGut, 2009
- Genome-wide association study for early-onset and morbid adult obesity identifies three new risk loci in European populationsNature Genetics, 2009
- Effect of Prebiotic Supplementation and Calcium Intake on Body Mass IndexThe Journal of Pediatrics, 2007
- An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvestNature, 2006
- Unhydrolyzed and hydrolyzed konjac glucomannans modulated cecal and fecal microflora in Balb/c miceNutrition, 2005
- Interventions for preventing obesity in childrenPublished by Wiley ,2005
- Fructans in the diet cause alterations of intestinal mucosal architecture, released mucins and mucosa-associated bifidobacteria in gnotobiotic ratsBritish Journal of Nutrition, 2003
- Human studies with probiotics and prebiotics: clinical implicationsBritish Journal of Nutrition, 2002
- Human studies with probiotics and prebiotics: clinical implicationsBritish Journal of Nutrition, 2002