WIKIMEDIA, RAYNATAWith rates of childhood obesity on the rise, researchers are searching for potential causes. One contributing factor, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics this week (September 29), may be antibiotics prescribed at a young age.
According to the study, which surveyed health records of more than 64,000 children, antibiotic use before the age of 2 is associated with increased obesity risk before age 5. Those children who were given four or more courses of common antibiotics before age 2 were at particularly high risk of developing childhood obesity. Strikingly, 69 percent of children studied had been given antibiotics in their first two years of life.
“Our hope is that we can find out what the risk factors are in early childhood and do a better job not just at preventing this, but of identifying the kids . . . who then can change their path by changing their lifestyle and changing the healthcare they get,” study author Charles Bailey of ...
