ANTIBIOTICS are one of the miracles of modern medicine.
The drugs have transformed the treatment of deadly , made possible, and saved millions of lives in the process.
However, there is a growing body of research that suggests taken in early life could come with health risks, including increasing the risk of and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), like.
New research from Finland found given antibiotics in the first two years of their lives have a greater risk of being by the time they started primary school never took them.
Meanwhile, is fast becoming a public health issue worldwide, with rates rising at an alarming pace.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of kids and teens aged five to 19 who are overweight or obese has jumped from 31million in 1990 to over 390million in 2022.
In the UK, the trend is just as concerning.
Recent NHS figures from the 2023/24 school year suggest that 22 per cent of children aged 10 to 11 are considered obese.
But the risk of obesity is still not a reason to withhold antibiotics from a child if they genuinely need them – the benefits still outweigh the risks.
The new study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2025 Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, explored how antibiotic exposure from to early childhood affects children's weight.
To do this, researchers analysed data from 33,095 born children using national health registers, medical records, and electronic growth charts.
Scientists from the University of Ouludiscovered that children given antibiotics in their first two years had a higher body mass index (BMI) by age two and were 20 per cent more likely to develop obesity by age 12.
Early exposure to the medicines also raised the risk of becoming overweight by nine per cent.
They also found taking antibiotics during pregnancy was not linked to higher BMI or weight gain in children later on.
“Providers need to be cautious about prescribing antibiotics for young toddlers, especially unnecessary antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections,”; Dr Sofia Ainonen, the study’s presenting author, said.
