Background:
The number of people who have irritable bowel diseases (IBDs) and the number of obese people has been increasing since the 1940s (Jin, J. et al, 2021). It has been reported that the number of people diagnosed with IBDs has consistently increased at a varied rate of 1.2% to 23.3% per year from the 1930s until 2010 (Molodecky, N. A. et al. 2012). There are many factors that could lead to this increase in IBDs and obesity diagnoses, alterations to diet, changes to culture, and a further understanding of IBDs and obesity. Irritable Bowel Diseases (IBDs) are incurable and can involve the inflammation of any part of the digestive tract (Halfvarson, J. et al. 2017). Examples are Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) (UCLA Health). Crohn’s disease involves inflammation in the digestive tract and ulcerative colitis involves inflammation in the rectum and colon (UCLA Health). Obesity can also alter levels of inflammation, and in past studies, obesity and the level of helpful versus unhelpful gut microbes have been found to match in a predictable way (Jin, J. et al, 2021. Franzosa, E.A. et al. 2019).
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