ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Obesity
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Research and Prevention of Overweight and Obesity in YouthView all 11 articles
The combined effect of dietary live microbe intake and physical activity on overweight or obesity in children and adolescents aged 2-17 years: a cross-sectional study from the NHANES
Provisionally accepted
- Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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Aim: The study aimed to explore the combined effect of dietary live microbe intake and physical activity on overweight or obesity in children and adolescents aged 2-17. Methods: Data of children and adolescents aged 2-17 were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) database in 1999-2020. Dietary live microbe intake was assessed through 24-hour dietary recalls and categorized into three levels: low, medium, and high (with "MedHi referring to the combined medium and high intake groups for analysis). Physical activity level was determined by self-reported using the questionnaire. Overweight and obesity was evaluated using the body mass index-for-age percentile growth charts. Weighted univariate and multivariate logistic models were conducted to explore the associations between dietary live microbe intake, physical activity, and overweight or obesity in children and adolescents. With odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) presented. Results: Among the included children and adolescents, 10,086 had overweight or obesity. We found that those with high live microbe intake (from the MedHi group) and ideal physical activity had the lowest incidence of overweight or obesity (χ²= 52.311, P < 0.001). Specifically, children and adolescent with high live microbe intake and ideal physical activity were related to a lower occurrence of overweight or obesity (OR=0.65, 95%CI: 0.54-0.77). The expression levels of enterodiol and enterolactone were the highest in the high live microbe intake and ideal physical activity group. CRP expression levels were lowest in high live microbe intake and ideal PA group. Conclusion: Dietary live microbe intake and physical activity has a potential combined effect on overweight or obesity in children and adolescents. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the causal relationships and explore the mechanisms.
Keywords: dietary live microbe intake, physical activity, Overweight, Obesity, Children
Received: 25 Jun 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Chen and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yangyang Wu, yangyangwu_yy@163.com
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