Abstract
Childhood obesity has dramatically increased. Unfortunately, excess weight tends to persist into adulthood therefore therapies which target childhood obesity are essential in halting the obesity epidemic. Our objective was to determine if prebiotic fiber intake reduces body fat, pro‐inflammatory cytokines and insulin levels in overweight and obese children and to examine if this is due to a shift in gut microbiota composition. Overweight and obese children (蠅85th BMI percentile) aged 7‐12y (n=39) were randomized to consume 8g/day of prebiotic fiber (1:1 inulin:oligofructose) or equicaloric placebo for 16 weeks. Body fat (measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry), pro‐inflammatory cytokines and insulin (quantified from fasted blood serum), and gut microbiota (quantified from stool) were measured at baseline and week 16. Statistical significance was determined using non‐parametric Mann‐Whitney U‐Test at p蠄0.05. The first cohort (n=13) have completed the study with the final n=26 to finish December 2014. There was a trend for prebiotic fiber to reduce trunk body fat compared to placebo (‐1.42% vs +0.37%; p=0.15). Waist circumference (‐2.22 vs +0.03 cm), interferon gamma (‐1.4 vs +2.1 pg/mL) and fasted insulin levels (‐53.6 vs +155.3 pg/mL) were reduced with prebiotic and increased with placebo but not significantly. Bifidobacteria abundance significantly increased with prebiotic (p=0.03). Prebiotic fiber is a potential non‐invasive treatment option to reduce body fat in obese and overweight children by gut microbiota modulation.Funded by BMO Financial Group/Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Published Version
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