Types of normal bacteria found in the meconium, the earliest stool of an infant, may predict the child's likelihood of later developing obesity, according to a new study published July 8 in Pediatric Obesity.
Children who became overweight at age three had a different meconium bacterial makeup than those toddlers of normal weight, according to the study of 212 newborns. For the overweight children, 29% of the bacteria was in the Bacteroidetes phylum, while for those of average weight the proportion was 15%.
Many prenatal factors affect the microbial composition of the baby's first stool, including the mother's use of antibiotics and biodiversity of the home environment during pregnancy, according to the authors.
