Diet and Childhood Obesity: The Mediating Role of the Gut Microbiota

Childhood obesity poses a global threat to children’s health, impacting both physical and psychological well-being. This disease results from a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. The gut microbiota is an environmental factor that plays a crucial role in the progression of childhood obesity. Diet, as a key lifestyle factor, affect obesity; the gut microbiota may be at a crossroads between them. Several clinical studies have indicated that diet can modulate microbial dysbiosis and gut microbiota metabolic networks, effectively improving childhood obesity. A high-fiber diet and low-saturated fat diet can increase the abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as Akkermansia and Bifidobacterium, and reduce the presence of harmful bacteria, like Proteobacteria. This review elucidates the key mechanisms by which diet modulates the gut microbiota to influence obesity, examining the cascade from alterations in the gut environment and microbial composition to the production of microbial metabolites and their subsequent impact on the host physiological state. Additionally, we summarize clinical trials from the last two decades involving specific dietary patterns, which modulate the gut microbiota and impact the development of childhood obesity. This study provides theoretical and practical insights for comprehensive childhood obesity interventions.