Understanding How Antibiotic Use Affects Childhood Obesity and Growth
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Abstract
Study to assess the effects of different types, timing, and amount of antibiotic use in the first two years of life.
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Description
Antibiotics are among the most valuable medical discoveries. Recent research on understanding of how bacteria in our gut use energy, however, raises concerns about whether broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are overprescribed for mild infections, prescribed in early infancy may cause obesity during childhood. Obesity is a very common and serious condition among US children, particularly children from disadvantaged populations. Yet those studies are too small and they lack diversity as well as modern scientific tools to gauge the extent to which prescribing antibiotics can lead to excess weight gain. PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, comprising very large networks of data from electronic medical records, provides an ideal test bed to address this question. Further, it is not clear how caregivers and clinicians will use the results of earlier studies to decide which antibiotics to prescribe when faced with common infections like ear infections.
Study Aims
The objectives of the study are to assess the effects of different types, timing, and amount of antibiotic use in the first two years of life with (Specific Aim 1) body mass index (BMI) and obesity at ages 5 and 10 years and (Specific Aim 2) growth trajectories to age 5 years. In Specific Aim 3, we will address how big the effects of antibiotics on obesity are within subgroups of the population, such as different racial/ethnic groups and whether the child’s mother got antibiotics while she was pregnant.
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