Replication files for: Nutrition and the Gut Microbiota in 10–18-Month Old Children Living in Urban Slums of Mumbai, India

<p><strong>PI-Provided Abstract</strong>: In this cross-sectional study, we describe the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota among undernourished children living in urban slums of Mumbai, and determine how nutritional status, including anthropometric measurements, dietary intakes from complementary foods, feeding practices, and micronutrient concentrations, are associated with their gut microbiota, for the first time. We collected rectal swabs from children aged 10–18 months living in urban slums of Mumbai participating in a randomized controlled feeding trial and conducted 16S rRNA sequencing to determine the composition of the gut microbiota. Across the study cohort, Proteobacteria dominated the gut microbiota at over 80% relative abundance, with Actinobacteria representation at <4%, suggesting immaturity of the gut. Increased microbial ɑ diversity was associated with current breastfeeding, greater head circumference, higher fat intake, and lower hemoglobin concentration and weight-for-length Z-score. In redundancy analyses, 47% of the variation in Faith’s PD could be accounted for by age, and iron and polyunsaturated fatty acid intakes. Differences in community structure (β-diversity) of the microbiota were observed among those consuming fats and oils the previous day compared to those consuming none. Our findings suggest that growth, diet, and feeding practices are associated with gut microbiota metrics in undernourished children, whose gut microbiota were comprised mainly of Proteobacteria, a phylum containing many potentially pathogenic taxa.Keywords: infant, child, growth, diet, nutrition, feeding practices, microbiome, fat intake, anthropometry</p>