Impact of the diet on the intestinal microbiota in African children from rural and urban areas

We studied the intestinal microbial changes in groups of African children belonging to the same ethnicity in which transition from a rural environment to urban areas, together with improvement of socio-economic conditions, results in exposure to a “globalized” western type diet. Introduction of foods from animal origin and rich in fat and simple sugar into a traditional African diet, composed by cereals, legumes and vegetables, causes gut microbiota shift, leading to progressive loss of biochemical functions associated to production of Short Chain Fatty Acids. Key microbial profiles are lost in the course of urbanization and improvement of economic conditions independently from geography and ethnicity, resulting in a marked shift in bacterial communities, typical of western populations.