Overview

• The papers, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Gastroenterology, show that life circumstances shape gut–brain–microbiome signaling that influences appetite and food choices.
• A UCLA‑led review details how income, education, health care access, discrimination, isolation, and early adversity alter microbiota, inflammatory signaling, appetite hormones, and brain reward and control networks to raise obesity risk.
• In the first general‑population study of its kind, adults with disorders of gut–brain interaction were far more likely to screen positive for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, with more than one‑third screening positive.
• Those who screened positive reported greater health burdens and poorer quality of life regardless of body mass index, and common symptoms included sensory‑based avoidance, low interest in eating, and fear of adverse consequences.
• Researchers call for personalized treatment plans, development of tools that probe why patients eat, policy responses that address social drivers of health, and further translational work to implement these approaches.