Have we been giving Kiwi kids too many antibiotics?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-08-14 09:22

New Zealand

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A study shows 96% of kids born in NZ from 2005-10 were given antibiotics at least once by age 5, along with 30% of pregnant women. Researchers studied pharmacy data for over 300,000 children, finding antibiotic dispensing was higher for some groups including Pacific and Māori people, city kids, those experiencing greater deprivation, and boys. This may be partly due to different needs, and patterns may have changed since. However, the authors say we need better stewardship programs as overuse contributes to antibiotic resistance, and can affect longer-term health through changes to gut health and immune system development.

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Research Wiley, Web page Paper is freely available online

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Organisation/s: Massey University, University of Otago

Funder: Funding for this study is provided by the New Zealand Health Research Council (reference ID: 18/509). Open access publishing facilitated by Massey University, as part of the Wiley - Massey University agreement via the Council of Australasian University Librarians.

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