The use of synbiotics in the early stages of life to protect human intestinal microbiota and prevent obesity

Obesity is an epidemic worldwide that has affected not only adults but children, causing the most common metabolic health problems. It is a multifactorial and complex disease where factors like genetics, environment, diet, physical activity, and metabolism interplay. The gut microbiome plays an important role in human health since the early stages of life, and environmental factors directly impact its composition and stability even before birth. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms by which the gut microbiome acts as a key factor in developing obesity and related metabolic disorders in children. Synbiotic supplementation reshapes the gut microbiota and helps restore the anthropometric and metabolic profiles that are risk factors for obesity. In the early stages of life, it may present a tool in the prevention and treatment of diet-induced obesity and related diseases in the short- and long-term future.