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Antibiotics are great for nipping that nasty infection in the bud. However, new research published this week in the International Journal of Obesity suggests that the bacteria-battling medicines may also influence childhood weight gain.
This research, which was published online yesterday in the International Journal of Obesity, is actually the biggest and longest study that looks how antibiotic exposure influences body mass index (BMI.) Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health analyzed health records from a total of 142,824 kids between ages 3 and 18.
When researchers looked at the long-term effects, they found that kids who took antibiotics were more likely to gain — and retain weight — and ultimately gain even more weight by the time they were 18. Overall, using antibiotics contributed to anywhere from 1.6 pounds to 3.3 pounds of weight gain during childhood.
Professor Brian Schwartz explained that antibiotics are probably having an effect on weight through the microbiome — the population of bacteria living in a person’s gut.
“A single antibiotic can wipe out an entire intestinal microbiome,” Schwartz told Time. “If antibiotics are infrequent, then the microbiome can recover. But if there are excessive antibiotics, then the impacts on the microbiome can last, and the ecology of the bacteria in the intestinal tract changes and doesn’t go back to what it was before.”
The study’s findings suggest that antibiotics should only be used when absolutely necessary. Schwartz said if they’re not used sparingly, they will continue to put more kids at risk of obesity — even if they are exercising and eating a healthy diet. (For more information about the study, read this article from Time, or this news release from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.)
As a young child, I suffered from chronic ear infections. So I practically lived on antibiotics. (I even ended up with tubes in my ears twice.) Now, I have an inflammatory bowel disease; I sometimes wonder if the two are somehow connected. Interestingly, the antibiotics don’t seem to have had much effect on my BMI. (I’m typically on the low side of my “normal” range.) Then again, if the average weight gain from antibiotics is only 1 to 3 pounds, I might not have even noticed it.
Agencies/Canadajournal
