Corticosteroids are popular drugs prescribed in the management of asthma, but a new study finds that certain types may affect growth in very young children.

In a research presentation given at the annual European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology Meeting held in Barcelona, Spain last Saturday, it was revealed that children may experience stunted growth when they are given corticosteroids for asthma within the first two years of life.

To arrive at their findings, University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital researchers studied the weight, height, and asthma treatment regimen of more than 12,000 Finnish children who are up to two years of age.

The findings revealed that those children who had received corticosteroid medications for asthma had a shorter height for their age — the effect is more pronounced in those who had taken budesonide, according to Medical News Today.

Researchers said that the study results highlight the importance of proper usage of these particular medicines in infants.

The researchers were only able to study the effects of corticosteroid in growth in children up to two or three years old. Because of this, they were not able to establish the long-term effects of the medication.

The recommended guidelines state that the use of inhaled corticosteroid in infants are only allowed when it is for treating recurrent wheezing. Otherwise, the infant should be given other forms of treatment, such as a brief course of oral corticosteroids.

However, it appears that inhaled corticosteroids have been used inappropriately instead of using them based on expert recommendations, Dr. Antti Saari, lead researcher of the study, as revealed to Medical News Today.

The recently presented study was not the first of its kind; in fact there were two separate studies conducted to show the link between stunted growth and the use of asthma drugs.

Saari also said that there are not enough studies conducted on the use of inhaled corticosteroids in infants.

The team now aims to study the effects of the treatment when used for a period longer than two or three years.