Breastfeeding and subsequent maternal visceral adiposity

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Metabolic Health
• Body Composition Analysis

Background:

• Pregnancy leads to increased visceral fat in women.
• Research on breastfeeding's impact on maternal body composition remains inconclusive.
• Visceral adiposity is a key indicator of metabolic and cardiovascular risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between breastfeeding and visceral adiposity in US women.
• To determine if breastfeeding influences abdominal fat accumulation.
• To analyze these relationships in different menopausal stages.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional analysis of 351 women aged 45-58 years from the SWAN-Heart Study (2001-2003).
• Self-reported breastfeeding history (duration and number of children).
• Computed tomography (CT) to quantify abdominal adiposity (visceral fat, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio).

Main Results:

• Premenopausal/early-perimenopausal mothers who never breastfed had 28% more visceral fat than those who breastfed ≥3 months.
• Never-breastfeeding mothers also showed increased waist circumference and waist-hip ratio.
• No significant associations were found in late perimenopausal/postmenopausal women.

Conclusions:

• Breastfeeding for ≥3 months is associated with significantly less metabolically active visceral fat in premenopausal women.
• Not breastfeeding is linked to higher visceral adiposity until menopause.
• These findings highlight a potential long-term metabolic benefit of breastfeeding.