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Are you fat? Blame the antibiotics you got as a kid
In an article titled Early antibiotic use 'may predispose children to weight gain and asthma' [theguardian.com], The Guardian reports on findings from a University of Helsinki study:
The use of antibiotics in young children may alter the natural populations of gut microbes in a way that leaves them predisposed to weight gain and asthma in later childhood, according to new research.
The study of 236 children aged between two and seven, with a median age of five, backs earlier research on mice and children indicating the negative consequences of early antibiotic use. Antibiotics are the most commonly used drugs in childhood populations of western countries.
Researchers at the university of Helsinki said the use of antibiotics is associated with a long-lasting shift in microbiota – clusters of bacteria from different regions of the body – and metabolism.
