Breast Feeding

This is an interesting study. With all the other studies recently about the additives and the low fat diets, and how they are not doing what we hoped, this study seems to add another dimension.

ReviewPHILADELPHIA, March 8 - Extending breastfeeding does not reduce the risk of early childhood obesity, according to pediatricians here.

After measuring fat mass in 313 five-year-olds, Hillary Burdette, M.D., and colleagues at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found that breastfed children were no leaner than children who were never breastfed, and among breastfed children the time of weaning was not related to fat mass.

Nevertheless, they emphasized, the finding in no way "diminishes the importance of recommending breastfeeding for its multiple other benefits to mother and child."

The investigators used dual x-ray absorptiometry to measure adiposity in children who were enrolled in the study at age three, Dr. Burdette and colleagues reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. All children were born after full term gestation and were free of chronic health problems affecting either growth or development.

Fifty-three percent of the children were boys, 80% were white and 20% were black.

Dr. Burdette said the mean fat mass of children at age five was 4.55 kg ±1.64 kg, while the mean lean body mass was 14.05±1.93 kg and the mean percent body fat was 23.12%±5.43%. As might be expected, boys had more lean body mass than girls and girls had more fat mass than boys.

White mothers with higher income and better education were more likely to breastfeed children and to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation to delay solid foods until four months of age and fruit juice until six months.

But following these directions did not guarantee svelte five-year-olds because the only factor that was significantly related to fat mass was race: black boys and black girls had higher lean body mass than white boys and girls.

Breastfed children average 0.33 kg lower fat mass but this difference was not statistically significant.

At the time of enrollment, mothers provided information about feeding practices up to age one year. They were asked about breastfeeding and mothers who did breast feed children were asked the age at which breastfeeding was stopped: less than one month, one to two months, three to five months, six months to a year, older than age one.

Mothers were also asked if they supplemented breastfeeding with formula and at what age that supplementation was initiated: zero to three months, three to five months, six months to one year, or older than one year.

Finally, mothers were asked when solid foods were introduced.

Other studies that have linked breastfeeding to later body mass index may have overestimated the protective effect of breastfeeding insofar as BMI is not an accurate measure of adiposity, the authors wrote.