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Intestinal Change Antibiotics cause obesity in children
Children who repeatedly take antibiotics gain weight faster than children who have never taken the appropriate medication. Recent research has shown that childhood antibiotics have a lasting impact on adult body weight.
Doctors often prescribe antibiotics to children. It now turns out that early use of the drug in adolescents can be linked to weight gain. The researchers examined the health data of 163,820 children aged three to 18 years. They counted there the number of prescriptions of antibiotics, but also recorded the height and body weight of the children. The results showed that in one in five cases (more than 30,000 affected children), antibiotics were prescribed seven or more times. At the age of 15, these adolescents weighed about three pounds more on average than children who did not receive antibiotics, a study published in the journal International Journal of Obesity found.
Frequent use of antibiotics promotes massive overweight. Picture: Kokhanchikov - fotolia Documented data brings more clarity
So far, physicians have already assumed from previous studies that there is a link between antibiotics and childhood weight gain. However, all the data for this was based on the memories of mothers. The new study is much more significant and reliable because it is based on the documented use of antibiotics in pediatric health records.
Years of use of antibiotics in livestock
The use of antibiotics in childhood contributes to gaining weight at all ages, but the influence of antibiotics on weight becomes stronger the older the person becomes, explained the physician and lead author of the study, Dr. Brian S. Schwartz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Researchers have known for years that antibiotics cause weight gain in livestock. For this reason, many large manufacturers add low doses of the drug to the diet of their animals.
Antibiotics alter organisms in the human gut
The reason for the weight gain in children after the frequent use of antibiotics is not yet clear. But doctors suspect that the drug extinguishes the healthy bacteria in the body of a child. This process can lead to permanent changes of the diverse organisms in our gut. Such a change can cause food to be processed and absorbed differently in our body. It also depends on how many calories are released from the food, said the physicians in the study.
Parents often urge doctors to prescribe antibiotics
In July, a study of nearly 10,000 Danish schoolchildren found that the use of antibiotics during pregnancy was related to whether the child was overweight or obese. The published data in the International Journal of Obesity show that this risk also increases if the child often takes antibiotics at an early age. However, the results of the current study do not mean that parents should never give antibiotics to their child in the future. Some bacterial diseases can cause life-threatening consequences without the use of the drug. However, the researchers have documented that many parents urge their doctors to prescribe antibiotics for ear infections and other infectious diseases. In some of these cases, the drugs are completely ineffective.
Parents should listen more to doctors' recommendations
The biggest concern for years regarding antibiotics is that over-prescribing the drug causes it to eventually lose its effectiveness because the bacteria develop resistance. Current research allows new strategies to curb the use of antibiotics in children. The physicians warned the parents that overuse of the drug could have an immediate negative impact on the adolescent's health. This also increases the likelihood of overweight and obesity. Parents would have to be dissuaded from giving the little ones antibiotics frequently, the researcher said. Chat. Many parents want to feel that they are actively taking action against their child's illnesses. But the doctor suspects that such practices harm the children rather than help them. He added: "If your doctor tells you you do not need to use antibiotics, then you should listen to him and not use it."