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Cortisol in human milk predicts child BMI

Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook1, Tran Bao Le2, Anna Chung2

  • 1Department of Psychology, Chapman University, Orange, California, USA.

Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
|November 29, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Breastfeeding infants exposed to higher cortisol levels in human milk had lower body mass index (BMI) percentiles by age two. This suggests breast milk cortisol may protect against childhood obesity.

Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Pediatrics
  • Nutritional Science

Background:

  • Breastfeeding is associated with reduced childhood obesity rates.
  • Human milk contains cortisol, a hormone regulating glucose metabolism.
  • Early life factors significantly influence long-term metabolic health and body mass index (BMI).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that early exposure to cortisol in human breast milk influences infant BMI trajectories.
  • To determine if milk cortisol levels at 3 months predict BMI percentile changes up to 2 years of age.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized growth curve modeling on data from 51 breastfeeding mother-child pairs.
  • Measured infant exposure to cortisol in breast milk at 3 months.
  • Tracked child BMI percentile (BMIP) at 6, 12, and 24 months.

Main Results:

  • Higher milk cortisol levels at 3 months correlated with reduced BMIP gains over 2 years.
  • Infants with higher milk cortisol exposure had significantly lower BMIPs by age 2.
  • Milk cortisol's effect on BMIP change was more pronounced in girls than in boys.

Conclusions:

  • Cortisol in human milk may program infant metabolism, potentially mitigating childhood obesity risk.
  • These findings highlight a novel biological pathway linking breastfeeding and protection against obesity.
  • The low glucocorticoid content in infant formula underscores the unique role of breast milk cortisol.
Abstract

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