Abstract
In recent decades, obesity has become a serious public health problem affecting both children and adults. Considering the multifactorial origin of obesity, including modifiable factors, childhood was identified as the golden age for investing in obesity prevention by both promoting proper lifestyles and actively intervening in possible triggers. The gut microbiota is at the center of the most recent scientific studies and plays a key role in obesity development because it is intimately linked to energetic-humoral variations in the host: its alterations can promote a state of excessive energy storage, and it can be manipulated to maintain energy homoeostasis. This review aims to offer a panoramic understanding of the interplay between obesity and the gut microbiota, focusing on the contribution that the gut microbiota could have to the prevention of childhood obesity and its complications in adulthood. Currently, the use of some specific probiotic strains has been shown to be able to act on some secondary metabolic consequences of obesity (such as liver steatosis and insulin resistance) without any effect on weight loss. Although definitive conclusions cannot be drawn on the real impact of probiotics and prebiotics, there is no doubt that they represent an exciting new frontier in the treatment of obesity and associated metabolic dysfunctions. Targeted studies randomized on specific populations and homogeneous for ethnicity, sex, and age are urgently needed to reach definitive conclusions about the influence of microbiota on weight. In particular, we still need more studies in the pediatric population to better understand when the switch to an obese-like gut microbiota takes place and to better comprehend the right timing of each intervention, including the use of pre/probiotics, to improve it.
Highlights
Once considered a problem specific to high-income countries, overweight, and obesity are on the rise in low- and middle-income countries and becoming a large public health challenge
Definitive conclusions cannot be drawn on the real impact of probiotics and prebiotics, there is no doubt that they represent an exciting new frontier in the treatment of obesity and associated metabolic dysfunctions
The use of some specific probiotic strains has been shown to be able to act on some secondary metabolic consequences of obesity without any effect on weight loss
Summary
Once considered a problem specific to high-income countries, overweight, and obesity are on the rise in low- and middle-income countries and becoming a large public health challenge. It has been established that while alteration of the gut microbiota can cause several health issues, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, asthma, and atherosclerosis, gut microbiota manipulation could be a potential therapeutic target to reduce host energy storage [9,10,11,12]. For these reasons, antibiotics and their abuse have been called into question, and considerable interest has focused on the use of probiotics associated with a balanced diet and adequate physical exercise [13, 14]. PubMed was used to search for all of the studies published from the last 15 years using “Obesity” as a keyword associated with “Childhood,” “Gut Microbiota,” “Dysbiosis,” “Antibiotics,” and “Probiotics.” The search was limited to articles published in English that provided evidence-based data
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
