The use of antibiotics in the first 14 days after birth is linked to reduced height and weight in boys in early childhood, says a study published in Nature Communications (January). A research team comprising scientists from Finland and Israel analysed the impact of neonatal antibiotic use in infants and found that male infants exposed to antibiotics treatment exhibited significantly lower weight compared to non-exposed children throughout the first six years of childhood. They also exhibit lower height and BMI. The study suggests this is linked to antibiotic-induced changes in microbiomes, which inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. However, girl children are not similarly affected.

“Antibiotics are vitally important and life-saving medications in newborn infants. Our results suggest that their use may also have unwanted long-term consequences that need to be considered,” says Prof. Omry Koren, of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University, who led the study together with Prof. Samuli Rautava, of the universities of Turku and Helsinki.