Antibiotic Use Linked to Childhood Obesity
Children under the age of two who are treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics are more likely to be obese later in childhood, a study epublished in JAMA Pediatrics on September 29 reported.
The study authors looked at electronic health records dating from 2001 to 2013 of 64,580 children. The records indicated that 69% of children were given antibiotics before the age of two. Children who were exposed to antibiotics—especially broad-spectrum antibiotics—as infants had a greater likelihood of becoming obese sometime between the ages of two and five compared to infants who had never taken an antibiotic or who were treated with narrow-spectrum antibiotics.
Infants who took four or more antibiotics, including at least one broad-spectrum antibiotic, had a 17% greater risk of obesity later in childhood. The earlier a child began taking broad-spectrum antibiotics, the greater the risk he or she would become obese between ages three to five.
According to the researchers, “Repeated exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics at ages 0 to 23 months is associated with early childhood obesity. Because common childhood infections were the most frequent diagnoses co-occurring with broad-spectrum antibiotic prescription, narrowing antibiotic selection is potentially a modifiable risk factor for childhood obesity.”
A study published a month later indicates this side effect of antibiotic use starts before a child is born. This study found that children exposed to antibiotics in the womb during the second or third trimester of pregnancy had an 84% greater risk of obesity compared to infants whose mothers did not take antibiotics. There was also a connection between prenatal exposure to antibiotics during the second and third trimester and increased body mass index, waist circumference, and percent body fat.
References:
Bailey LC, et al. JAMA Pediatr. 2014 Sep 29.
Mueller NT, et al. Int J Obes (Lond). 2014 Oct 9.
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