Unless absolutely necessary, young children should not receive antibiotics. According to a new population-based study of more than 21,000 children in the United Kingdom, doing so can increase the chances of obesity at the age of four by as much as 47% (Scott FI, et al, Gastroenterology 2016 E-pub March 19, 2016).
Researchers examined electronic medical records from 21,714 British children registered in a national database between 1995 and 2013. The children had been registered