Administration of Antibiotics to Children Before Age 2 Years Increases Risk for Childhood Obesity.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Childhood obesity is increasing and is associated with adult obesity. Antibiotics have been used to promote weight gain in livestock for several decades. Antibiotics are commonly prescribed for children, but it is not clear how exposure to antibiotics early in life affects risk for obesity. We performed a population-based cohort study to assess the association between antibiotic exposure before age 2 years and obesity at age 4 years.

Methods

We performed a retrospective cohort study of 21,714 children in The Health Improvement Network-a population-representative dataset of >10 million individuals derived from electronic medical records from 1995 through 2013 in the United Kingdom. Eligible subjects were registered within 3 months of birth with complete foll

SUBMITTER: Scott FI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4924569 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature