Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Assessment of the Efficacy of An Osteopathic Treatment in Infants with Biomechanical Impairments to Suckling
Published on: February 5, 2019
Does Pacifier Use in Infancy Decrease the Risk of Obesity?
Ahdi Amer1, Mohammed Abusamaan2, Xiaoming Li3
11 Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
Background:
Nonnutritive sucking using a finger or pacifier is a natural reflex for infants. We hypothesized that infants may overfeed if the bottle or breast is constantly offered. Our goal was to determine whether pacifier use in early infancy is associated with lower incidence of obesity at later age.
Methods:
Parents of 399 infants, 9 to 15 months old, were interviewed and asked whether a pacifier was used consistently for ≥9 months. Body mass indexes at birth, 6 months, and on the day of interview were calculated.
Results:
In all, 204 (51%) infants used a pacifier, and 195 (49%) were nonusers. More infants in the nonuser group were either overweight-40 (21%)-or obese-32 (16%)-than in the user group-22 (11%) and 22 (11%), respectively ( P = .003).
Conclusions:
Pacifier use in infancy was associated with lower incidence of obesity at 9 to 15 months of age. Offering a pacifier can be protective against infantile obesity.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Anatomy of the Intestines
Small Intestines
The small intestine is an ~7 meter-long tube with an inner diameter of just 2.5 cm. Since most nutrients are absorbed here, the inner lining of the small...
Obesity
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
Exploration...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Development of Human Microbiota
Development of the Oral Microbiota

