The association between antibiotic use in infancy and overweight during childhood and adolescence: a historical cohort study

6 min read Original article ↗

References

  1. Hu K, Staiano AE. Trends in Obesity Prevalence Among Children and Adolescents Aged 2 to 19 Years in the US From 2011 to 2020. JAMA Pediatr. 2022;176:1037–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Weihrauch-Blüher S, Schwarz P, Klusmann JH. Childhood obesity: increased risk for cardiometabolic disease and cancer in adulthood. Metabolism. 2019;92:147–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Drozdz D, Alvarez-Pitti J, Wójcik M, Borghi C, Gabbianelli R, Mazur A, et al. Obesity and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: From Childhood to Adulthood. Nutrients. 2021;13.

  4. Colquitt JL, Loveman E, O’Malley C, Azevedo LB, Mead E, Al-Khudairy L, et al. Diet, physical activity, and behavioural interventions for the treatment of overweight or obesity in preschool children up to the age of 6 years. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;3:Cd012105.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Mead E, Brown T, Rees K, Azevedo LB, Whittaker V, Jones D, et al. Diet, physical activity and behavioural interventions for the treatment of overweight or obese children from the age of 6 to 11 years. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;6:Cd012651.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Al-Khudairy L, Loveman E, Colquitt JL, Mead E, Johnson RE, Fraser H, et al. Diet, physical activity and behavioural interventions for the treatment of overweight or obese adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;6:Cd012691.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Grossman DC, Bibbins-Domingo K, Curry SJ, Barry MJ, Davidson KW, Doubeni CA, et al. Screening for Obesity in Children and Adolescents: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. Jama. 2017;317:2417–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Cho I, Blaser MJ. The human microbiome: at the interface of health and disease. Nat Rev Genet. 2012;13:260–70.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Vallianou N, Dalamaga M, Stratigou T, Karampela I, Tsigalou C. Do antibiotics cause obesity through long-term alterations in the gut microbiome? A review of current evidence. Curr Obes Rep. 2021;10:244–62.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Rinninella E, Raoul P, Cintoni M, Franceschi F, Miggiano GAD, Gasbarrini A, et al. What is the healthy gut microbiota composition? A changing ecosystem across age, environment, diet, and diseases. Microorganisms. 2019;7:14.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Wilkins AT, Reimer RA. Obesity, Early Life Gut Microbiota, and Antibiotics. Microorganisms. 2021;9.

  12. Khan MJ, Gerasimidis K, Edwards CA, Shaikh MG. Role of gut microbiota in the aetiology of obesity: proposed mechanisms and review of the literature. J Obes. 2016;2016:7353642.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Cox LM, Yamanishi S, Sohn J, Alekseyenko AV, Leung JM, Cho I, et al. Altering the intestinal microbiota during a critical developmental window has lasting metabolic consequences. Cell. 2014;158:705–21.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Shao X, Ding X, Wang B, Li L, An X, Yao Q, et al. Antibiotic Exposure in Early Life Increases Risk of Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Endocrinol ((Lausanne)). 2017;8:170.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Rasmussen SH, Shrestha S, Bjerregaard LG, Ängquist LH, Baker JL, Jess T, et al. Antibiotic exposure in early life and childhood overweight and obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diab Obes Metab. 2018;20:1508–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Meng X, Zhu Y, Di H, Zhang M, Feng J, Xu M, et al. Dose-response association of early-life antibiotic exposure and subsequent overweight or obesity in children: A meta-analysis of prospective studies. Obes Rev. 2021;22:e13321.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Rifas-Shiman SL, Bailey LC, Lunsford D, Daley MF, Eneli I, Finkelstein J, et al. Early life antibiotic prescriptions and weight outcomes in children 10 years of age. Academic Pediatrics. 2021;21:297–303.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Prevention CFDCa. CDC Extended BMI-for-Age Growth Charts for Children and Adolescents 2022 Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/growthcharts/extended-growth-charts.html.

  19. Fryar CD, Kruszon-Moran D, Gu Q, Carroll M, Ogden CL Mean body weight, height, waist circumference, and body mass index among children and adolescents: United States, 1999–2018. 2021.

  20. Gerber JS, Bryan M, Ross RK, Daymont C, Parks EP, Localio AR, et al. Antibiotic exposure during the first 6 months of life and weight gain during childhood. Jama. 2016;315:1258–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Leong KSW, McLay J, Derraik JGB, Gibb S, Shackleton N, Taylor RW, et al. Associations of prenatal and childhood antibiotic exposure with obesity at age 4 years. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3:e1919681.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Wan S, Guo M, Zhang T, Chen Q, Wu M, Teng F, et al. Impact of exposure to antibiotics during pregnancy and infancy on childhood obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes (Silver Spring). 2020;28:793–802.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kaur H, Choi WS, Mayo MS, Harris KJ. Duration of television watching is associated with increased body mass index. J Pediatr. 2003;143:506–11.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Park YJ, Chang J, Lee G, Son JS, Park SM. Association of class number, cumulative exposure, and earlier initiation of antibiotics during the first two-years of life with subsequent childhood obesity. Metabolism. 2020;112:154348.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Sturød K, Dhariwal A, Dahle UR, Vestrheim DF, Petersen FC. Impact of narrow-spectrum penicillin V on the oral and faecal resistome in a young child treated for otitis media. J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2020;20:290–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Cantarutti A, Rescigno P, Da Borso C, Gutierrez de Rubalcava Doblas J, Bressan S, Barbieri E, et al. Association between early-life exposure to antibiotics and development of child obesity: population-based study in Italy. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2024;10:e51734.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Lugli GA, Mancabelli L, Milani C, Fontana F, Tarracchini C, Alessandri G, et al. Comprehensive insights from composition to functional microbe-based biodiversity of the infant human gut microbiota. npj Biofilms Microbiomes. 2023;9:25.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Gu H, Tao E, Fan Y, Long G, Jia X, Yuan T, et al. Effect of β-lactam antibiotics on the gut microbiota of term neonates. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrobials. 2024;23:69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Li P, Chang X, Chen X, Wang C, Shang Y, Zheng D, et al. Early-life antibiotic exposure increases the risk of childhood overweight and obesity in relation to dysbiosis of gut microbiota: a birth cohort study. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrobials. 2022;21:46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Bailey LC, Forrest CB, Zhang P, Richards TM, Livshits A, DeRusso PA. Association of antibiotics in infancy with early childhood obesity. JAMA Pediatr. 2014;168:1063–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Ohler AM, Braddock A. Infections and antibiotic use in early life, and obesity in early childhood: a mediation analysis. Int J Obes. 2022;46:1608–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Li DK, Chen H, Ferber J, Odouli R. Infection and antibiotic use in infancy and risk of childhood obesity: a longitudinal birth cohort study. Lancet Diab Endocrinol. 2017;5:18–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Wang Y-Q, Zhang Y, Tang W-F, Luo Z-C, Zhang Y-T, Yan C-h, et al. Environmental antibiotics exposure and childhood obesity: A cross-sectional case-control study. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2024;277:116339.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Zhou J, Zeng L, Wang D, Li C, Liu Y, Yan H, et al. Effects of birth weight on body composition and overweight/obesity at early school age. Clin Nutr. 2020;39:1778–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Zhao Y, Wang SF, Mu M, Sheng J. Birth weight and overweight/obesity in adults: a meta-analysis. Eur J Pediatr. 2012;171:1737–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Schellong K, Schulz S, Harder T, Plagemann A. Birth weight and long-term overweight risk: systematic review and a meta-analysis including 643,902 persons from 66 studies and 26 countries globally. PLoS One. 2012;7:e47776.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references