Probiotic therapy outcomes in body composition of children and adolescent with obesity, a nonrandomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of probiotic supplementation therapy on anthropometric values and body composition of children and adolescent with obesity. Subjects and methods: This is a nonrandomized controlled, prospective, double-blind interventional clinical trial with primary data analysis. The sample comprised 44 pubertal children and adolescent (8-17 years old) with obesity. The patients were allocated to probiotic (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) or placebo group, with matching of gender and chronological age. Both groups received nutritional guidance, and were followed for six months. In all patients the anthropometric assessment was carried out by a nutritionist and data on weight, height and waist circumference (WC) were collected. Body composition was assessed using dual emission X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Results: After six months, both groups had increased weight, height but reduced body index mass (BMI) standard deviation score, with no differences between groups. After the intervention, both groups showed a reduction in the percentage of total body fat and an increase in lean mass, but only the placebo group showed a reduction in the percentage of trunk fat. However, the variation in these parameters did not differ between groups. Conclusions: The probiotic group does not seem to have benefited from supplementation. However, we suggest that this reduction in BMI SDS in both groups may have occurred due to improvements in diet because of the nutritional advice given throughout the therapy. We concluded that supplementation with this strain of probiotic was not effective in promoting weight loss or improving the body composition of this population.

Probiotic therapy outcomes in body composition of children and adolescent with obesity, a nonrandomized controlled trial.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of probiotic supplementation therapy on anthropometric values and body composition of children and adolescent with obesity. Subjects and Methods: This is a nonrandomized controlled, prospective, double-blind interventional clinical trial with primary data analysis. The sample comprised 44 pubertal children and adolescent (8-17 years old) with obesity. The patients were allocated to probiotic (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) or placebo group, with matching of gender and chronological age. Both groups received nutritional guidance, and were followed for six months. In all patients the anthropometric assessment was carried out by a nutritionist and data on weight, height and waist circumference (WC) were collected. Body composition was assessed using dual emission X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Results: After six months, both groups had increased weight, height but reduced body index mass (BMI) standard deviation score, with no differences between groups. After the intervention, both groups showed a reduction in the percentage of total body fat and an increase in lean mass, but only the placebo group showed a reduction in the percentage of trunk fat. However, the variation in these parameters did not differ between groups. Conclusion: The probiotic group does not seem to have benefited from supplementation. However, we suggest that this reduction in BMI SDS in both groups may have occurred due to improvements in diet because of the nutritional advice given throughout the therapy. We concluded that supplementation with this strain of probiotic was not effective in promoting weight loss or improving the body composition of this population.

The impact of COVID-19 in children and adolescents with obesity in Brazil.

Objective: The primary goal of the study was to evaluate weight gain in children and adolescents with obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic period, and compare it with the period before the pandemic. Methods: The sample comprised 68 children with obesity aged between 7 and 18 years, 30 (44.1%) boys and 38 (55.9%) girls, who were attended at the pediatric endocrinology clinic of the Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Weight gain in the sample in the pre-lockdown period (December 2, 2018 to March 11, 2020) was compared with that in the lockdown period (March 11, 2020 to February 21, 2021). Results: Approximately one year before the start of the pandemic period, the mean (SD) chronological age was 10.1 years old (± 2.4), and an average weight gain of 4.4 kg (± 4.8) was observed during the pre-lockdown period described. One year after the start of the pandemic, mean (SD) chronological age was 11.8 years old (± 2.4), and an average weight gain of 8.5 kg (± 7.6) was observed in the lockdown period described. When we compared the weight gain in the two periods, it was higher in the pandemic period, both in girls and boys (p = 0.013 and 0.035, respectively). Conclusion: The results of the study show that the period of social isolation adopted to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased weight gain in the studied population, probably due to a reduction in physical activities and an increase in energy consumption.

The impact of COVID-19 in children and adolescents with obesity in Brazil

ABSTRACT Objective: The primary goal of the study was to evaluate weight gain in children and adolescents with obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic period, and compare it with the period before the pandemic. Subjects and methods: The sample comprised 68 children with obesity aged between 7 and 18 years, 30 (44.1%) boys and 38 (55.9%) girls, who were attended at the pediatric endocrinology clinic of the Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Weight gain in the sample in the pre-lockdown period (December 2, 2018 to March 11, 2020) was compared with that in the lockdown period (March 11, 2020 to February 21, 2021). Results: Approximately one year before the start of the pandemic period, the mean (SD) chronological age was 10.1 years old (± 2.4), and an average weight gain of 4.4 kg (± 4.8) was observed during the pre-lockdown period described. One year after the start of the pandemic, mean (SD) chronological age was 11.8 years old (± 2.4), and an average weight gain of 8.5 kg (± 7.6) was observed in the lockdown period described. When we compared the weight gain in the two periods, it was higher in the pandemic period, both in girls and boys (p = 0.013 and 0.035, respectively). Conclusion: The results of the study show that the period of social isolation adopted to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased weight gain in the studied population, probably due to a reduction in physical activities and an increase in energy consumption.

Parry-Romberg syndrome: severity of the deformity does not correlate with quality of life.

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to (1) describe the main clinical findings of Parry-Romberg syndrome (PRS), (2) evaluate surgical strategies and outcomes, and (3) investigate the quality of life of patients according to their disease severity. METHODS: This retrospective observational study involved 14 patients treated between 2005 and 2011. The surgical treatment strategies were based on the proposed system for grading severity, and postoperative outcomes were assessed. The patients answered two questionnaires that covered the clinical manifestations of the syndrome and their quality of life in the postoperative period. A comparative analysis between the severity of the deformity and the quality of life was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: The most prevalent clinical manifestation of PRS was progressive hemifacial atrophy (85.71 %). The surgical strategy was individualized based on the severity of disease of each patient. Surgical strategies included free-fat grafts, dermal fat grafts, and bone grafts associated with a temporoparietal fascia flap. Regardless of approach, all patients had an overall improvement in their facial appearance and were free of complications during the follow-up period. Our data showed no association between the severity of the deformity and the quality of life of these patients (all p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this series, there was a predominance of clinical features of PRS that had been previously reported. Satisfactory outcomes were obtained using different surgical strategies that varied according to the severity of the deformity. The severity of the deformity did not impose a reduced quality of life on PRS patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .