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Early lifestyle habits may influence gut microbiota, cardiometabolic health in teens
Early lifestyle habits, including sleep duration, dietary intake and physical activity level, may shape gut microbiota in late adolescence, likely influencing cardiometabolic health, according to study findings presented at the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology annual meeting .
“These preliminary findings are relevant because the gut microbiota, in animal models and adults, has been associated with obesity and cardiovascular health,” Melanie Henderson, MD, PhD, FRCPC, a pediatric endocrinologist at CHU Sainte-Justine and a clinical assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at Université de Montréal, told Endocrine Today. “We can hypothesize that early lifestyle habits may modulate the gut microbiota, which in turn may alter cardiometabolic health. Interventions targeting the microbiota may be a novel and promising treatment and prevention strategy for cardiometabolic disease.”
Henderson and colleagues analyzed data from 22 children with at least one parent with obesity participating in the QUALITY cohort, a prospective study of 630 children with a parental history of obesity. Researchers assessed lifestyle habits at age 8 to 10 years, age 10 to 12 years and age 15 to 17 years, including physical activity (via 7-day accelerometry), self-reported screen time, dietary intake (three non-consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls) and self-reported sleep duration. Fitness was measured by VO2 peak. Researchers also conducted 16s-rRNA-based microbial profiling of stool samples obtained from children at age 15 to 17 years (14 normal weight, six with overweight and two with obesity) to determine the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota.
The researchers found that fitness in children aged 15 to 17 years was positively correlated with measures of microbiome diversity (r = 0.33-0.41 across indices). Additionally, researchers observed positive correlations between fitness in children aged 10 to 12 years and greater microbiotal diversity 5 years later (Shannon r = 0.7; P = .001; Simpson r = 0.51; P = .03).
In children aged 15 to 17 years, both total dietary fat intake and saturated fat intake were negatively correlated with the Simpson index (r = –0.5; P = .019 and r = –0.43; P = .046), respectively). There was also a negative trend observed between total and saturated fat consumption in children aged 8 to 10 years and measures of microbiotal diversity at age 15 to 17 years, though the findings did not rise to significance. At ages 8 to 10 years and ages 15 to 17 years, researchers found that percent carbohydrate intake was positively correlated with the Simpson index (r = 0.43; P = .049 and r = 0.49; P = .021, respectively). Researchers also noted a trend toward a positive correlation between self-reported sleep duration and indices of microbiotal diversity in children aged 15 to 17 years, with the strongest correlation observed with the Shannon index (r = 0.39; P = .08).
Physical activity and screen time were not associated with microbiota diversity, according to the researchers.
The findings suggest that microbiome diversity in late adolescence may be modulated by lifestyle habits, Henderson said.
“I want to stress, however, that these are preliminary findings in a small group of children, and further research is definitely warranted,” Henderson said. – by Regina Schaffer
For more information:
Melanie Henderson, MD, PhD, FRCPC, can be reached at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Ste-Justine, 3175 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada; email: melanie.henderson.hsj@gmail.com.
Reference:
Henderson M, et al. Abstract P1-P108. Presented at: European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Meeting; Sept. 27-29, 2018; Athens.
Disclosure: Henderson reports no relevant financial disclosures.