The bacteria-fighting drugs are thought to alter microbes in the gut linked to weight gain. Giving antacid pills also heightened the odds.
Experts said over prescribing of the drugs was a “significant problem”.
Antibiotics are often wrongly given when they will not work because the infection is not bacterial.
This increases the risk of superbugs developing and antibiotics failing to work when needed.
The Texas study of 333,353 kids found a prescription for antibiotics was associated with a 26 per cent higher risk of obesity, with each further course raising the risk. Dr Christopher Stark said: “The long-term risks to health must be weighed against short-term benefits.”
Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies has previously warned that antimicrobial resistance poses a “catastrophic threat” to modern medicine.
Hospitals could routinely see patients dying after minor surgery within 20 years if new antibiotics are not discovered to treat infections, she added.
Prof Naveed Sattar, from the University of Glasgow, said: “It is highly possible that children who are more often prescribed these medications have other lifestyle or social risk factors, which increase their risks of obesity, rather than these medications."
“For example, infections requiring antibiotics are likely more commonly prescribed in poorer households due to a variety of factors and the link between deprivation and obesity is very strong.”
Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, from the Royal College of GPs, said doctors balance the benefits and risks of drugs when prescribing and parents should not stop treatment based on this research.
She added: “Antibiotics and antacids can be very effective at treating a number of conditions in young children.
“GPs will discuss and consider any potential short or long-term side effects or health implications with the child’s parents or guardians, when developing a treatment plan.
“This new study, linking antibiotic and antacid use with obesity, is extremely interesting, but does not prove causation.”
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