Background:Weight management in children involves family lifestyle changes and relies on caregivers of children to implement these changes at home. Little is known about the effects of family-based lifestyle intervention programs for children on caregivers themselves when not specifically targeted by the intervention. Objective:To assess whether primary caregivers of children and adolescents with overweight or obesity experience a change in body mass index (BMI), cardiovascular risk profile and/or health behaviors while participating in a pediatric weight management program. Methods:A prospective cohort study followed caregivers who participated in a family-based multidisciplinary pediatric weight management clinic with their child for 1-year at Alberta Children's Hospital (Alberta, Canada). Data collection occurred from 2015-2019 and included baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Results:Ninety-nine caregivers completed baseline evaluations and 48 completed the baseline labs. At 6-months, 45 completed evaluations, and 23 completed labs. At 12-months, 31 completed evaluations and 22 completed labs. At baseline, 18.2% of caregivers were overweight (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2) and 65.7% were living with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). There was no significant change in weight (median change -3.25 × 10-5 kg; p = 1), BMI (median change 0.050 kg/m2; p = 0.80) or waist circumference (median change 0.050 cm; p = 0.88) at 6 months. No statistically significant changes in cardiometabolic labs were found between baseline and 6 months when controlled for the addition of antihypertensives or antihyperglycemics. Conclusion:This study provides insight into metabolic outcomes of the caregivers of overweight and obese children enrolled in a family-based lifestyle intervention program, although this study was limited by the small sample size and loss of follow-up. Future studies should continue to evaluate caregivers, to better understand the relationship between caregiver involvement and their outcomes in association with their child. Additional understanding of potential psychosocial benefits to children and families enrolled in these programs would be of further benefit.

Both preclinical and clinical studies have revealed the indisputable importance of intestinal bacterial community composition in pathogenesis of various disease states, from obesity to neurodegeneration. Diet remains one of the most important factors shaping human intestinal microbiota composition. In this study, we investigated diet-microbiome interactions in a healthy cohort of 88 participants from Atlanta and Calgary. We examine microbial composition (16S rRNA sequencing) with dietary records using Spearman Correlation tests with Benjamini-Hochberg multiple hypothesis correction to make community-level comparisons between dietary scores and microbial diversity index scores. Predictive models were used for molecular-level comparisons between microbial gene pathways and molecules. Among generalized dietary and microbial indices, we identified a negative association between dietary whole grain consumption and a microbial dysbiosis score. Comparisons between dietary food groups and bacterial family abundance reveal significant associations between dairy consumption and Lactobacillaceae abundance, dietary unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio and Clostridia Cluster Family XIII, salt intake and Lachnospiraceae, and consumption of 'greens and beans' and Veillonellaceae. Predictive models of microbial gene pathways and molecules reveal significant positive associations between several dietary fatty acids and microbial short-chain fatty acid fermentation pathways, and between dietary lignans and archaeal methanogenesis pathways. Overall, these associations may inform future explorations on specific dietary interventions to impact the gut microbiome.

OBJECTIVE:Dairy consumption plays a protective role in obesity that may be mediated through the gut microbiota. This study examined the role of dairy proteins, casein, whey, and complete dairy (skim milk powder), and a plant-based alternative, soy, on gut microbiota composition, obesity susceptibility, and insulin sensitivity in early development. METHODS:Following weaning, rat pups were randomized into four isocaloric diets (n = 8-11/sex/diet) for 4 weeks: (1) complete dairy; (2) casein; (3) whey; and (4) soy. Primary outcomes included food intake, growth, body composition, glucose tolerance, and fecal microbiota composition. Animals were then metabolically challenged with a high-fat, high-sucrose diet (HFHS, 40% kilocalories from fat) for 5 weeks. RESULTS:The impacts on gut microbiota and metabolic outcomes were sex and protein dependent. Compared to casein, complete dairy consumption reduced diversity, while early exposure to complete dairy improved body fat percentage but not glucose tolerance or insulin sensitivity. Soy elicited differential effects in males and females. Despite preserved microbial patterns, diets were unable to overcome the detrimental metabolic impacts of HFHS diet exposure. CONCLUSIONS:Results show that complete dairy positively modulates gut microbial profiles and benefits body composition early in life, but it could not curtail the negative metabolic impacts of HFHS feeding.

BackgroundParity history influences dementia risk and cognitive aging, and recent evidence suggests it may also influence the association between physical activity and cognition in later life.ObjectiveTo examine associations between total lifetime and life-stage-specific physical activity and later life cognition in postmenopausal females with differing parity histories.MethodsThis cross-sectional analysis using data from the Rancho Bernardo Study included 867 postmenopausal females with complete data, categorized into three parity groups (number of pregnancies >6-months): nulliparous, 1-2 pregnancies, and grand-multiparous (≥3 pregnancies). Cognitive outcomes included executive functions and memory. Physical activity was assessed using a self-report questionnaire capturing retrospective activity during adolescence, age 30, age 50, and current activity in later life. Covariates included age, education, health composite score, body mass index, and hysterectomy status. Linear models examined associations between physical activity and domain-specific later life cognitive outcomes stratified by parity.ResultsGreater total lifetime physical activity was associated with higher executive functions in nulliparous and grand-multiparous females. Moderate activity in nulliparous females and high activity in grand-multiparous females during adolescence and at age 30 were associated with higher executive functions. High physical activity at age 50 and currently was associated with higher executive functions in nulliparous females.ConclusionsThe findings suggest the relationship between self-reported physical activity and cognition was strongest in the two groups at greater risk for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, the nulliparous and grand-multiparous groups. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms driving parity differences.

Background:Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is influenced by genetic and environmental factors, including diet and physical activity (PA). IBD patients who engage in more PA report improvements in quality of life, symptom management, and fatigue levels. This report aims to characterize habitual PA collected using wearable technology in patients with mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease (CD) and provide insight into the feasibility of wearable technology in IBD. Methods:This study is part of a larger multicenter, randomized controlled trial at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. Patients (n = 59) were randomized to receive a CD therapeutic dietary intervention + conventional management or conventional management alone for 13 weeks. PA data, collected using wearables, included habitual PA metrics (daily step count, daily time spent sitting, daily sit to stand transitions [n = 31]), and exercise metrics (daily light PA minutes, daily moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) minutes [n = 23]). Baseline data were pooled across groups and used to investigate habitual PA. Results:Participants were restricted to nonstricturing, nonpenetrating, colonic or ileocolonic, mild-to-moderate CD. The average daily step count for this cohort was approximately 6700 steps, with time spent sitting (hours) averaging 8.2 ± 2.1 daily. Additionally, pooled average daily light PA and daily MVPA measured 60.0 ± 32.4 and 18.5 ± 13.0 minutes, respectively. Future Directions:Studies detailing objective assessment of daily PA using wearable technology in IBD are limited. These gaps in the literature provide future direction for researchers to investigate current PA trends and barriers to PA uptake.

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent painful degenerative disease without effective disease-modifying drugs. The rising prevalence of comorbid obesity and knee OA underscores the urgent need for effective management to delay or prevent disease progression. In a recently completed randomized, placebo-controlled trial in adults with comorbid obesity (BMI >30 kg/m²) and unilateral or bilateral knee OA (Kellgren–Lawrence grade II–III), we were the first to demonstrate that a 6-month prebiotic intervention (16 g/day oligofructose-enriched inulin) significantly improved physical function and metabolic health. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we incorporated metagenomics, metabolomics, and machine-learning-based multi-omics integration in 30 participants who completed baseline and at least one follow-up assessment and sample collection at months 3 and 6. Prebiotic supplementation reshaped gut microbial composition and function, increasing diet-derived carbohydrate availability, mitigating excessive host-glycan degradation and mucosal barrier disruption, reducing systemic inflammation and metabolic dysregulation, and ultimately improved physical performance and metabolic health. In a diet-induced obese rat model, prebiotic treatment reduced tibial cartilage degeneration and synovial membrane thickening, providing protection against OA onset and progression through a shared inflammatory pathway. Our findings provide mechanistic evidence supporting the therapeutic potential of prebiotic supplementation as a conservative management in humans and as a preventive approach for obesity-related knee OA in a preclinical rat model, mediated through the gut-joint axis. Clinicaltrials.govNCT04172688

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent, painful, degenerative disease lacking effective disease-modifying drugs. The rise in obesity has increased the prevalence of metabolic OA, underscoring the need for effective management to delay or prevent knee replacement. Prebiotics confer improvement in physical function and metabolic health in adults with comorbid knee OA and obesity by unknown mechanisms. Here, we integrated metagenomic and metabolomic analyzes to investigate prebiotic fiber-linked mechanisms along the gut-knee axis. By reshaping the composition and function of the gut microbiota, prebiotics increased diet-derived carbohydrate availability, mitigated excessive host-glycan degradation and mucosal barrier disruption, reduced systemic inflammation and metabolic dysregulation, ultimately enhancing metabolic health and improving physical performance. In a diet-induced obese rat model, prebiotics reduced tibial cartilage degeneration and synovial membrane thickening, conferring protection against OA onset and progression through a common inflammatory pathway. Our findings provide mechanistic evidence supporting the therapeutic potential of prebiotic supplementation as a conservative management in humans and as a preventive approach for obesity-related knee OA in a preclinical rat model, mediated through the gut-joint axis.

Maternal consumption of fiber-deprived diets increases obesity risk in offspring. While early life microbial colonization plays a role in metabolic development, the importance of altered maternal milk microbiota in conferring obesity risk to offspring is not known. Sprague-Dawley dams consumed a CT (control; chow), LF-LF (low-fiber, low-fat), LF-HF (low-fiber, high-fat) or IE-LF (inulin-enriched, low-fat) diet during lactation only. Dam gut and milk microbiota were examined and dam and offspring adipose tissue outcomes were evaluated at weaning. Maternal adiposity increased in both LF-LF and LF-HF dams, despite large differences in dietary fat content. Offspring from fiber-deprived dams consumed more milk during lactation and exhibited greater adiposity compared to fiber-enriched diet groups, with the most pronounced increases observed in LF-HF offspring. Male LF-LF offspring also exhibited adipocyte hypertrophy and increased gonadal adipose IL-1β expression. Milk composition (creamatocrit, leptin, insulin, and PAI-1) differed by maternal diet, and milk leptin was associated with increased offspring body weight in LF-HF offspring only. Both maternal milk and gut microbiota differed substantially by diet. Milk microbiota was most closely related to same-day fecal microbiota, and fecal–milk microbial overlap was greater in fiber-enriched dams. Several milk taxa enriched in fiber-consuming dams (Lactobacillus, HT002, and Prevotellaceae UCG-001) were negatively associated with offspring adiposity. Short-term maternal fiber-deprivation increases adiposity in dams and young offspring. These findings suggest maternal milk microbiota may be a conduit for influencing offspring adipose tissue health.

Background and Purpose: Consumption of cannabis during pregnancy has increased, especially oral administration. Given that cannabis compounds readily cross the placenta, there could be unintended developmental consequences, especially when exposed to the modern obesogenic food environment. We explored the long-term effects of maternal voluntary cannabis consumption on adult offspring’s emotional behavioral and microbiota response to high fat diet (HFD) consumption. Experimental Approach: Pregnant mice voluntarily consumed cannabis extract equivalent to 5 mg/kg/day Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol from gestational day 1.5 until postnatal day (PD) 10. Male and female offspring (PD49) consumed a HFD or low-fat control diet (LFD) for 12 weeks. We measured a battery of emotional behavioral tasks (elevated plus maze, light dark box, open field test, social interaction), changes in gut microbiota in dams and offspring, and inhibitory synaptic transmission in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC). Key Results: Pre- and perinatal cannabis exposure (PPCE) did not influence weight gain of offspring on a HFD. Male offspring receiving HFD had decreased risk-taking behaviours that were exacerbated by PPCE. HFD exposure and PPCE had opposing effects on locomotor activity in male mice. Female mice were protected from PPCE influence on emotional behaviour as well as HFD-induced synaptic depression in the lOFC. Changes in offspring microbiota were associated with PPCE-altered maternal-offspring microbial transmission, particularly from maternal fecal microbiota during late gestation. Conclusion and Implications: PPCE sex-dependently influences HFD-induced anxiety and the gut microbiota of offspring. This raises concerns about differential effects of those exposed to gestational cannabis in the modern food environment.

Maternal antibiotic use can increase obesity risk in offspring. Co-administering prebiotics mitigates the risk in rats. How prebiotics and antibiotics interact to affect obesity risk is unknown, but could involve altered milk microbiota that influences offspring gut colonization. Sprague-Dawley rat dams were exposed to antibiotics (low-dose penicillin) and/or prebiotics (oligofructose) during gestation and lactation. Gut and milk microbiota were measured using 16S rRNA sequencing, and metabolic measurements were taken for dams and offspring at weaning (day 21) and 10 days postweaning (day 31). Germ-free mice were transplanted with maternal cecal microbiota to assess the causal role of vertically transmitted microbiota. Offspring maternally exposed to antibiotics showed relatively accelerated taxonomic maturation in the gut pre- and postweaning. Milk composition (fat, protein, hormone, microRNA, and cytokines) was unchanged, but milk-derived bacteria differed between maternal treatments and contributed to offspring gut microbial structure. Male offspring were especially affected by maternal antibiotic exposure and had increased body weight, fat mass, caloric intake, and hepatic triglycerides by day 31. All but hepatic triglycerides were attenuated with maternal prebiotic coconsumption. fecal microbiota transplants of maternal cecal matter into germ-free mice replicated male offspring body weight and hepatic outcomes. Untargeted hepatic lipidomics and network analysis revealed strong connections between several bacteria and lipid species potentially of bacterial origin that were enriched in prebiotic offspring microbiota and livers. These data confirm the role of milk microbiota in seeding offspring microbiota and implicate maternal antibiotic-associated gut microbiota as causally implicated in compromising early-life offspring hepatic metabolism that may lead to later metabolic disorders.

Fermented foods represent a diverse category of products shaped by microbial metabolism, offering distinctive sensory qualities and potential health benefits. Although prior reviews have explored the nutritional and microbial aspects of fermented foods or focused on specific health outcomes and mechanisms of action, few recent narrative reviews have integrated clinical and epidemiologic evidence across diverse health domains. This review addresses that gap by critically evaluating observational and interventional studies linking fermented food consumption with metabolic, cardiovascular, oncologic, and neuropsychological outcomes, while summarizing associated biomarkers that may underpin these effects. Emphasis is placed on clinical studies of fermented foods containing live microbes. Through mapping current evidence to noncommunicable disease outcomes, the review identifies consistent protective associations, methodological limitations, and key knowledge gaps, and outlines priorities to advance the field and its translation into dietary guidance. It further underscores the need for standardized product characterization and well-powered clinical trials to establish causality. Overall, this work provides the most current and integrative assessment of fermented foods and human health, highlighting their potential as a valuable yet underutilized component of strategies for chronic disease prevention and public health policy.

Evidence suggests that paternal diet can influence offspring metabolic health intergenerationally but whether dietary animal and plant proteins differ in their impact on fathers and their offspring is not known. Our objective was to examine the effects of a paternal diet high in casein versus pea protein on fathers and their offspring. Five-week-old male rats were fed: (1) control, (2) high animal protein (AP, 36.1% of energy as casein), or (3) high plant protein (PP, 36.1% of energy as pea protein with added methionine) diets for 8-11 weeks before being mated. Offspring were challenged with a high fat/sucrose diet (HFD) from 10 to 16 weeks of age. Metabolic and microbial outcomes were assessed in both generations. In fathers fed PP diet, enhanced insulin sensitivity and lower liver triglycerides were seen alongside altered hepatic microRNA expression and gut microbial profiles. Few changes were seen in their offspring. In contrast, the paternal AP diet influenced adult offspring hepatic microRNA expression and programmed a latent increase in adiposity, dysregulated satiety hormones, and modified gut microbial composition in their adult offspring that occurred following the HFD. Overall, a diet high in pea protein with added methionine demonstrated protective effects on biomarkers of metabolic health in the fathers but led to minimal effects on the offspring while a paternal diet high in casein led to evidence of an increase in characteristics of metabolic dysfunction in their adult offspring when unmasked by exposure to a HFD for 6 weeks.

Background: We established a model of diet-induced obesity in Sprague-Dawley rats that produces, in addition to obesity, metabolic syndrome and musculoskeletal degeneration. Prebiotic fiber and aerobic exercise interventions have been shown to rescue bones and joints from degeneration, but it has yet to be shown if muscle degeneration can also be stopped with these interventions. Objectives: This study was aimed at determining if prebiotic fiber supplementation and/or aerobic exercise can prevent muscular alterations in our rat model of obesity. Methods: Using a high-fat/high-sucrose (HFS) diet-induced rat model of obesity, 12-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sedentary (HFS, n = 12), exercise (HFS + E, n = 12), prebiotic fiber supplementation (HFS + F, n = 12), or combined intervention (HFS + F + E, n = 12) groups for 12 weeks, with eight chow-fed animals as controls. Muscle triglyceride levels were measured using colorimetric assays, collagen content was assessed histologically, and CD68 immunohistochemistry was performed on the vastus lateralis (VL) and soleus muscles. Group comparisons were conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis test and chi-squared effect statistics (χ2). Results: VL triglyceride (χ2 = 10.481, p = 0.033) and collagen content in both VL and soleus (χ2 = 23.148, p < 0.001 and χ2 = 34.166, p < 0.001 respectively) were higher in all HFS-diet intervention groups compared to the chow-fed Control group. Lean body mass did not differ among groups (χ2 = 3.9192, p = 0.417). The HFS group exhibited increased total cholesterol and triglyceride levels (χ2 = 11.693, p = 0.019; and χ2 = 21.663, p < 0.001 respectively) and starkly reduced whole-body insulin sensitivity (χ2 = 18.046, p = 0.001) compared to the Control or to the exercise and fiber supplementation groups. Conclusions: Despite the effectiveness of aerobic exercise and prebiotic fiber supplementation in preventing the systemic metabolic disturbances induced by the HFS diet, muscular alterations persisted. Prebiotic fiber supplementation led to the highest muscle collagen content, suggesting potential adaptative muscular response to the systemic insult caused by the HFS diet.

Our aim was to examine the effects of combined prebiotic fiber supplementation and weight loss counseling on liver fat, body composition, subjective appetite, serum metabolomics, and intestinal microbiota in adults with MASLD. In a double blind, placebo-controlled trial, adult participants aged 18–70 years old with MASLD were randomized to receive prebiotic (oligofructose-enriched inulin, 16 g/day; n = 22) or isocaloric placebo (maltodextrin; n = 20) for 24 weeks alongside weight loss counseling from a registered dietitian. Primary outcomes were change in intrahepatic fat