The use of antibiotics for children repeatedly is linked to higher weight gains.
Taking them regularly could affect their weight for the rest of their lives, according to a recent study.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore analyzed data from nearly 164,000 youth in the United States.
They found that about 21 percent of them received seven or more antibiotic prescriptions during childhood.
At age 15, those who took antibiotics seven or more times at younger ages weighed about 3 pounds ( 1.3 kg ) more than those who did not take antibiotics.
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This weight gain among those who frequently took antibiotics was probably underestimated due to a lack of complete data, the researchers said.
"Your BMI [an estimate of body fat] can be forever altered by the antibiotics you take when you are a child," said study leader Dr. Brian Schwartz, a professor in the department of environmental health sciences.
Antibiotics for children
"Our data suggest that every time we give an antibiotic to children, they gain weight faster over time ."
But the study only showed an association, and no cause-effect relationship, between the use of antibiotics and weight gain.
The findings were published online Oct. 21 in the International Journal of Obesity.
While the magnitude of weight gain attributable to antibiotics may be modest by the end of childhood ...
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"Our conclusion that the effects are cumulative raises the possibility that these effects continue and worsen in adulthood," Schwartz said in a Hopkins news release.
Previous research suggests that the use of antibiotics in children repeatedly changes the balance of bacteria in the digestive tract permanently.
This alters the way foods break down and increases the amount of calories absorbed, resulting in greater weight gain, they noted.
Systematic antibiotics should be avoided, except when strongly indicated.
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It is more important than ever for doctors to be the guardians and for their young patients to get their medicines.
Not only those who will help you in your health , but also those who can not hurt you in the long term, "Schwartz concluded.