Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity in Children

: Luoto R, Collado MC, Laitinen K, Salminen S, Isolauri E

: 2013

: World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics

: PROBIOTIC BACTERIA AND THEIR EFFECT ON HUMAN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

: WORLD REV NUTR DIET

: 107

: 95

: 102

: 8

: 978-3-318-02324-4

: 978-3-318-02325-1

: 0084-2230

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000345738

Overweight and obesity can be currently considered a major threat to human well-being. Especially the increasing incidence of obesity in children adumbrates its continuance into adulthood and thus escalation of the problem in the future. Recent scientific advances have highlighted one link between food intake and weight gain: specific strains of the gut microbiota increase energy efficiency by affecting the harvesting and storage of energy from the diet and, furthermore, set the inflammation tone to hamper insulin sensitivity, thereby favoring a metabolic syndrome associated with obesity. During the first few days of life, the microbial colonization of the human intestine is a rapid and varying process. In view of the high immunoreactive capacity of a constant and massive luminal antigen challenge, microbial contact during a critical phase of development may deviate towards inflammatory response instead of tolerance, and manifest itself in allergic, autoimmune, and chronic inflammatory diseases, such as obesity. Hence, gut microbiota modulation with probiotics is currently attracting interest in the search for preventive and therapeutic applications in weight management. Copyright (c) 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel