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Antibiotic exposure in infancy does not increase risk for later weight gain
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Antibiotic exposure during infancy was not associated with significant weight gain by age 7 years, according to recent research in JAMA.
“In a large, diverse birth cohort of 40,000 children within a comprehensive pediatric care network, a statistically significant association between antibiotic use in the first 6 months of life and weight trajectory was not observed,” Jeffrey S. Gerber, MD, PhD, of the division of infectious diseases at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues wrote. “These findings do not support a clinically meaningful association of early-life antibiotic use with childhood weight gain.”
Jeffrey S. Gerber
The researchers studied 38,522 singleton children and 46 twin pairs from among 30 pediatric primary care centers. Twin pairs included in the study had discordant antibiotic exposure. The researchers measured weight at preventive health visits between ages 6 months and 7 years to determine the association between antibiotic exposure and weight gain.
Study results showed that antibiotic exposure was not associated with an increased rate of weight gain among the 14% of singleton participants who were exposed to antibiotics by age 6 months. Furthermore, antibiotic exposure among the twin pairs also was not significantly associated with a weight difference.
Gerber and colleagues noted a slight weight difference associated with antibiotic exposure by age 24 months; however, the increase was only 150 g of weight gain over 3 years (P = .001).
“There are many reasons to limit antibiotic exposure in young, healthy children, but weight gain is likely not one of them,” Gerber and colleagues wrote. – by David Costill
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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