Prebiotic supplementation improves appetite control in children with overweight and obesity: a randomized controlled trial.
What this study found
Prebiotic supplementation improved appetite control and reduced energy intake in the older children, with no clear short-term advantage for the whole sample on BMI z score in intention-to-treat analysis. Compared with placebo, the prebiotic group had a much smaller adjusted increase in ad libitum breakfast energy intake (12.4 versus 131.6 kcal) and showed improved subjective appetite sensations; the benefit was most evident in 11-12-year-olds, whose breakfast intake decreased from 498.5 to 401.0 kcal while placebo increased from 282.8 to 401.6 kcal. Fasting ghrelin increased by 34.5 and…
- Study & population
- Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in children aged 7-12 years with overweight or obesity (BMI at or above the 85th percentile).
- Intervention
- The active regimen was 8 g/day oligofructose-enriched inulin (Synergy 1) taken once daily as 1 packet mixed into 250 mL water and consumed 15-30 minutes before dinner for 16 weeks.
- Key limitation
- Small sample size and limited completion reduce precision and increase the chance of chance findings.
View source
Open PDFOriginal abstract
Background: Prebiotics have been shown to improve satiety in adults with overweight and obesity; however, studies in children are limited.Objective: We examined the effects of prebiotic supplementation on appetite control and energy intake in children with overweight and obesity.Design: This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Forty-two boys and girls, ages 7-12 y, with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥85th percentile were randomly assigned to 8 g oligofructose-enriched inulin/d or placebo (maltodextrin) for 16 wk. Objective measures of appetite included energy intake at an ad libitum breakfast buffet, 3-d food records, and fasting satiety hormone concentrations. Subjective appetite ratings were obtained from visual analog scales before and after the breakfast. Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaires were also completed by caregivers.Results: Compared with placebo, prebiotic intake resulted in significantly higher feelings of fullness (P = 0.04) and lower prospective food consumption (P = 0.03) at the breakfast buffet at 16 wk compared with baseline. Compared with placebo, prebiotic supplementation significantly reduced energy intake at the week 16 breakfast buffet in 11- and 12-y-olds (P = 0.04) but not in 7- to 10-y-olds. Fasting adiponectin (P = 0.04) and ghrelin (P = 0.03) increased at 16 wk with the prebiotic compared with placebo. In intent-to-treat analysis, there was a trend for prebiotic supplementation to reduce BMI z score to a greater extent than placebo (-3.4%; P = 0.09) and a significant -3.8% reduction in per-protocol analysis (P = 0.043).Conclusions: Independent of other lifestyle changes, prebiotic supplementation in children with overweight and obesity improved subjective appetite ratings. This translated into reduced energy intake in a breakfast buffet in older but not in younger children. This simple dietary change has the potential to help with appetite regulation in children with obesity. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02125955.