Antibiotics linked to child obesity
Babies who have four or more courses of antibiotics before the age of two are more likely to become obese, a study has found. merican researchers have found that broad-spectrum antibiotics were linked with an 11 percent increased risk of obesity by age five.
They warned that the findings were another reason to avoid the over-use of the drugs.
Previous studies have suggested that one in six courses of antibiotics fail to cure the infection they were prescribed for because bugs have developed resistance.
It is thought that antibiotics disrupt the gut bacteria in infants which may trigger weight gain.
Lead author Dr Charles Bailey, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said: "We have shown that repeated use of antibiotics, particularly broader-spectrum drugs, at younger than 24 months old is a risk factor for later obesity.
"Narrow-spectrum antibiotics, recommended as first-line treatment for common childhood infections, are not associated with obesity even after multiple exposures.
"Because the first 24 months of life comprise major shifts in diet, growth, and establishment of the intestinal microbiome, this interval may comprise a window of particular susceptibility to antibiotic effects."
However he added that the study could not rule out that the babies had underlying medical conditions that might cause both an increased use of antibiotics and vulnerability to obesity or that their mode of birth might have influenced the results.
He said that results should encourage doctors to use drugs more narrowly focused to treat the infections the children have rather than using broad-spectrum medicines.
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