Related Experiment Videos
Infant feeding and obesity through the lifecourse
T J Parsons1, C Power, O Manor
1Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, UK. t.parsons@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Archives of Disease in Childhood
|August 26, 2003
Summary
Breastfeeding showed a protective effect against higher body mass index (BMI) in adolescents and adults, but this association weakened significantly after accounting for other factors. The initial link between breastfeeding and BMI was not evident in childhood.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Human Growth and Development
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern.
- Understanding early life factors influencing long-term body mass index (BMI) is crucial.
- The relationship between infant feeding practices and later-life BMI requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between breastfeeding and BMI across different life stages.
- To determine if breastfeeding has a sustained protective effect on BMI in adolescents and adults.
- To assess the impact of confounding factors on the breastfeeding-BMI relationship.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the 1958 British birth cohort study (n=12,857).
- Assessed breastfeeding status in childhood.
- Measured Body Mass Index (BMI) at ages 7, 16, and 33 years.
- Employed statistical analyses to adjust for potential confounding variables.
Main Results:
- No significant association between breastfeeding and BMI was observed in childhood (age 7).
- Breastfeeding demonstrated a protective effect against elevated BMI at ages 16 and 33 in females, and at age 33 in males.
- This protective effect was substantially diminished and became statistically non-significant after adjusting for confounding factors.
Conclusions:
- While breastfeeding may show an initial protective association with BMI in later life, this effect is largely explained by other factors.
- Early life feeding practices may have complex and potentially mediated relationships with long-term weight status.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between breastfeeding and BMI, considering various environmental and genetic influences.