The end of that sentence says, "a new study in mice suggests." It later suggested that the effect may last up to 6 years post-puberty, which is a more than a few decades shy of claiming that it remains true for all humans for their entire life. And even later, it said that exercise may compensate for it by building up other similar bacteria.

I have seen plenty of obese childhood friends transform themselves into thin people through discipline and hard work. Is it harder for them to keep the weight off than for other friends who have had six-packs since 10? You bet. Are they doing it anyway? You bet. Am I one of them? Not at all :)

Most of research shows that doing that is hard and very few people are able to keep it up so yeah, congrats for those able to do it, but it would be better not to place such burdens on people from the get go if possible.

You have to pay for this cost forever. I've been going through it for 10 years now and I'd rather just not have to care about this or invest on it as much :)

No doubt! I wish I hadn't grown up obese, it was probably the most damaging thing to ever happen to me psychologically. It's not fun being the fattest kid in school. But there's only so much your parents can get right - I was loved, well-cared for, never abused or molested. I'll never know what sort of burden someone who grows up in extreme poverty or around violence carries.

Could my parents have fed me a few cheeseburgers less? Absolutely. But it's a very small tarnish all things considered.