A study by Harvard University has showed that children born by c-section had a 64 per cent greater chance of becoming obese when compared with natural born siblings and babies born by caesarean section are 15 per cent more likely to become obese as children compared to those born naturally.
“Our findings particularly those that show a dramatic difference in obesity risk between those born via caesarean and their siblings born through vaginal delivery provide very compelling evidence that the association between cesarean birth and childhood obesity is real.
“That’s because, in the case of siblings, many of the factors that could potentially be playing a role in obesity risk, including genetics, would be largely the same for each sibling–except for the type of delivery.” – Dr Jorge Chavarro, associate Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School of Medicine
The study has been published online by JAMA Pediatrics.
Stephen OHara, OptiBiotix Health Plc CEO said: “This report identifies that children born by caesarean section had a 15 per cent greater chance of becoming obese when compared with natural born siblings and this may be related to differences in the gut bacteria at birth. This is one of a growing number of scientific publications evidencing the role of the microbiome in human disease. OptiBiotix has developed microbiome modulators which can change the numbers of specific microbial strains in the gut, and most important their biological activity related to a health benefit. This creates the opportunity for targeted microbiome modulation and with it the ability to prevent, manage, and treat many human diseases.”
OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI) has established a pipeline of microbiome modulators that can impact on lipid and cholesterol management, energy harvest and appetite suppression.
