S.Korea: Antibiotics in infancy triggers obesity

By Gamze Turkoglu Oguz

ANKARA (AA) - South Korean researchers studied the relation between use of antibiotics and childhood obesity in their research conducted at Seoul National University Hospital, Korea Biomedical Review said on their website Wednesday.

According to the study of Dr. Park Sang-min and his team, the use of antibiotics during infancy can lead to childhood obesity.

In the study, a total of 31,733 children who received medical checkups in 2008-2012 were observed and the effect of using antibiotics in the first 24 months on childhood obesity was analyzed.

The specialists found out that the more antibiotics are used during this period, the higher is the risk of obesity. The risk of obesity in children who had antibiotics in the first six months was by 33% higher than those who had antibiotics when they were 18-24 months old.

The study also showed that children who had antibiotics at least five times during infancy have 42% higher risk of obesity than those who had them only once.

The team discovered that the number of antibiotics administered, duration of their use, and initial administration age affect childhood obesity.

The intestinal flora is damaged as a result of antibiotic use, which triggers obesity, the researchers noted.

“This study manifested the relation between antibiotic usage and childhood obesity in extensive sampling with over 30,000 people,” Park said.

The specialists also underlined that childhood obesity can lead to hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and metabolic syndrome, while every one person out of three who had obesity suffer from these problems during adulthood.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk