Gut Microbiota Metabolites in Infancy: Associations with Breastfeeding and Childhood Overweight

Overweight in childhood has been characterized by a distinct profile of fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFA), derived from the gut microbial fermentation of dietary substrates. Overweight children are also less likely to be breastfed as infants. The study objective was to explore associations between fecal SCFA and infant diet at 3–4 months of age, as well as associations between fecal metabolites at 3–4 months of age and overweight status at age 3 years. Metabolic profiling (using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)) of fecal samples taken at 3–4 months from a subset of 118 infants enrolled in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Study (CHILD) general population cohort was conducted. Infant and maternal characteristics, including breastfeeding status at 3 months of age (none, partial breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding), were collected using standardized questionnaires. Anthropometric measurements taken at 3 years of age were used to classify children as normal weight (<85th centile), at-risk of over...