We have all become terrorised by the rapid spread of the obesity epidemic and its train of health-related issues, including high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, limitation of lifestyle choices – the list goes on.

In a poll published in Times of Malta (June 2), the vast majority of Maltese (88 per cent) believe obesity should be treated as a national problem.

And we are all aware by now that there is a genetic basis for the vast majority of disorders with which nature has chosen to afflict us, on top of which several environmental stimuli are superimposed. In the case of obesity, an irresistible attraction to delicious food far in excess of what the body actually needs is the final straw.

What we were not aware of, and what current research is clearly pointing to, is that we are also the slaves of our own bacteria that multiply in the lush slush of our own guts (so-called our ‘microbiota’).

You may never have given any thought to the fact that the trillions of bugs that live there (far outstripping the number of normal body cells by a ratio of 10 to 1) are now touted as being responsible for making us fat or thin, slim or rotund. How can that be possible?

Apparently, our gut bacteria have the capacity to determine what food we eat and what quantity of food seem to be enough or otherwise. Researchers have found that the variety of species of bacteria that live happily in the guts of slim people far outstrips that in obese people, indicating that obese people might have lost some species of bacteria which are somehow protective against obesity. In particular, a species of bacteria (called ‘Bacteroides’) is more often present in slim people.

These findings would have been merely of academic interest until it was found that gut bacteria can be changed and modified by various procedures, leading to a hope that obesity itself could be controlled.

Experiments carried out by Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University have shown that mice given bacteria from fat people are more likely to grow heavier and have more body fat.

We look forward to the days when obesity may be controlled by simply supplying a dose of the right bacteria

Interesting as these findings appear at first blush, one cannot help ask the question: why do some people harbour certain kinds of bacteria rather than others, resulting perhaps in metabolic processes leading to obesity?

It is likely that the process of building up our gut flora starts from the moment of birth. Those who are born in a sterile manner through a caesarean section are more likely to have a limitation in the variety of bacteria in their gut.

Those babies deprived of breast feeding are also less likely to have beneficial bacteria. This, researchers say, may result in damage to the gut lining and prepare the ground for future problems including asthma, eczema and gut disorders like coeliac disease, as well as possibly, a tendency to obesity.

Another possible culprit known to alter gut flora is the widespread use of antibiotics which may drastically change the bacterial population in the gut. These normal (‘friendly’) bacteria may be destroyed and their place taken up by unusual or even harmful bacteria.

It is now being acknowledged that a disordered population of bacteria in the gut, caused by whatever reason, may be associated with ill-health. The use of probiotics has now become widespread, with the aim or ensuring that healthy bacteria (like lactobacillus) replenishes any niches left vacant or filled with less useful bacteria.

Even more drastic is the use of bacteria extracted from ‘normal’ people and given to those suffering from various forms of intestinal malabsorptive disorders. The latest of these products is given the evocative appellation: ‘crapsule’.

In particular, efforts are currently being made to identify which bacteria are specifically associated with obesity and slimness respectively with the aim of supplying those that are found to be wanting.

So we look forward to the days when obesity may be controlled not by a superhuman effort of dieting, but by simply supplying a dose of the right bacteria, which will have the job of directing us to eat the right food in the right quantity.