Simple energy balance or microbiome for childhood obesity prevention?

Authors: BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); MOTIL, KATHLEEN - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/3/2021
Publication Date: 8/9/2021
Citation: Baranowski, T., Motil, K.J. 2021. Simple energy balance or microbiome for childhood obesity prevention? Nutrients. 13(8):2730. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082730.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082730

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Obesity prevention interventions generally have either not worked or had effects inadequate to mitigate the problem. They have been predicated on the simple energy balance model, which has been severely questioned by biological scientists. Numerous other etiological mechanisms have been proposed, including the intestinal microbiome, which has been related to childhood obesity in numerous ways. Public health research is needed in regard to diet and the microbiome, which hopefully will lead to effective child obesity prevention.