Alissa Nicolucci, of the Canada-based University of Calgary, and colleagues performed a single-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-cohort study of 42 overweight or obese children.
Researchers gave 22 children oligofructose-enriched inulin and 20 children maltodextrin placebos once a day for 16 weeks. They measured fat mass and lean mass using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The primary outcome was change in percent body fat.
Here’s what they found:
1. Children on the inulin had a 3.1 percent decrease in body weight z-score, a 2.4 percent decrease in percent body fat and a 3.8 percent decrease in percent trunk fat compared to children on a placebo.
2. The experimental group also had a 15 percent decrease in interleukin 6 levels. They had a 19 percent decrease in serum triglyceride levels.
3. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed significant increases of Bifidobacterium spp. In the group on inulin. That group also experienced decreases in Bacteroides vulgatus levels.
Researchers concluded, “In a placebo-controlled, randomized trial, we found a prebiotic (OI) to selectively alter the intestinal microbiota and significantly reduce body weight z-score, percent body fat, percent trunk fat, and serum level of IL6 in children with overweight or obesity.”
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