Immigration can help explain the widening of the waistline

THURSDAY, November 1, 2018 (HealthDay News) – For newcomers to the United States, the flip side of immigration may be a rapid change in intestinal bacteria, say the researchers.

Microbes in the digestive tract have a direct influence on digestion and general health. This new discovery could help explain health issues – such as obesity and diabetes – that often affect immigrants in the United States, said the study's authors.

"We found that immigrants began losing their native microbes almost immediately after arriving in the United States, and then acquired exotic microbes that are more common among Europeans of American descent," said Dan Knights, author principal of the study.

"But the new microbes are not enough to compensate for the loss of native microbes, so we're seeing a loss of global diversity," said Knights, a computer scientist and quantitative biologist at the University of Minnesota.

For this study, the researchers compared the population of intestinal bacteria ("microbiome") from four groups: the Hmong and Karen peoples living in Thailand; Hmongs and Karen who emigrated to the United States; the children of these immigrants; and white Americans (the "control" group).

The study was published on November 1 in the journal Cell.

The results showed that the changes were most important among immigrant children.

"We do not know for sure why this is happening, it could be because we were born in the United States or grew up in the context of a more typical US diet," he said. Knights said in a press release.

"But it was clear that the loss of diversity was compounded from one generation to the next.This is something that we used to see in animal models, but not in animals." Man, "he added.

"When you move to a new country, you choose a new microbiome, which not only changes your species of microbes, but also the enzymes that they contain, which can affect the types of foods you can digest. and the interactions of your diet with your health, "said Knights.

This is not always a bad thing, he says. But in this case, "the westernization of the microbiome is associated with obesity among immigrants, so this could be an interesting avenue for future research on the treatment of obesity, both at home and abroad. immigrants and potentially in the wider population, "concluded Knights.

More information

National Institutes of Health of the United States have more information about intestinal bacteria.