BMJ  2003;327:901 (18 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7420.901

Paper

Anthropometry and body composition of 18 year old men according to duration of breast feeding: birth cohort study from Brazil

¹ Post-Graduate Programme in Epidemiology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, CP 464, 96001-970, Pelotas, RS, Brazil, ² PAHO/WHO Latin-American Center for Perinatology and Human Development, Montevideo, Uruguay, ³ Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Pelotas, Brazil, ⁴ Institute of Child Health, University of London, London

Objective To assess the association between duration of breast feeding and measures of adiposity in adolescence.

Design Population based birth cohort study.

Setting Pelotas, a city of 320 000 inhabitants in a relatively developed area in southern Brazil.

Participants All newborn infants in the city's hospitals were enrolled in 1982; 78.8% (2250) of all male participants were located at age 18 years when enrolling in the national army.

Main outcome measures Weight, height, sitting height, subscapular and triceps skinfolds, and body composition (body fat, lean mass).

Results Neither the duration of total breast feeding nor that of predominant breast feeding (breast milk plus non-nutritive fluids) showed consistent associations with anthropometric or body composition indices. After adjustment for confounding factors, the only significant associations were a greater than 50% reduction in obesity among participants breast fed for three to five months compared with all other breastfeeding categories (P = 0.007) and a linear decreasing trend in obesity with increasing duration of predominant breast feeding (P = 0.03). Similar significant effects were not observed for other measures of adiposity. Borderline direct associations also occurred between total duration of breast feeding and adult height (P = 0.06).

Conclusions The significant reduction in obesity among children breast fed for three to five months is difficult to interpret, as no a priori hypothesis existed regarding a protective effect of intermediate duration of breast feeding. The findings indicate that, in this population, breast feeding has no marked protective effect against adolescent adiposity.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Breast feeding and adolescent obesity are not clearly linked
BMJ 2003 327: 0. [Full Text]

Breast feeding and obesity

Tammy J Clifford
BMJ 2003 327: 879-880. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Kwok, M. K., Schooling, C M., Lam, T. H., Leung, G. M (2009). Does breastfeeding protect against childhood overweight? Hong Kong's 'Children of 1997' birth cohort. Int J Epidemiol 0: dyp274v1-dyp274 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Woo, J. G., Dolan, L. M., Morrow, A. L., Geraghty, S. R., Goodman, E. (2008). Breastfeeding Helps Explain Racial and Socioeconomic Status Disparities in Adolescent Adiposity. Pediatrics 121: e458-e465 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Gunderson, E. P. (2007). Breastfeeding After Gestational Diabetes Pregnancy: Subsequent obesity and type 2 diabetes in women and their offspring. Diabetes Care 30: S161-S168 [Full text]  
• Schack-Nielsen, L., Michaelsen, K. F. (2007). Advances in Our Understanding of the Biology of Human Milk and Its Effects on the Offspring. J. Nutr. 137: 503S-510S [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Victora, C. G, Horta, B. L, Post, P., Lima, R. C, De Leon Elizalde, J. W, Gerson, B. M. C., Barros, F. C (2006). Breast feeding and blood lipid concentrations in male Brazilian adolescents.. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 60: 621-625 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Victora, C. G, Barros, F. C (2006). Cohort Profile: The 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study. Int J Epidemiol 35: 237-242 [Full text]  
• Gigante, D. P., Horta, B. L., Lima, R. C., Barros, F. C., Victora, C. G. (2006). Early Life Factors Are Determinants of Female Height at Age 19 Years in a Population-Based Birth Cohort (Pelotas, Brazil). J. Nutr. 136: 473-478 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Owen, C. G, Martin, R. M, Whincup, P. H, Davey-Smith, G., Gillman, M. W, Cook, D. G (2005). The effect of breastfeeding on mean body mass index throughout life: a quantitative review of published and unpublished observational evidence. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 82: 1298-1307 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Haisma, H., Wells, J. C. K., Coward, W. A., Filho, D. D., Victora, C. G., Vonk, R. J., Wright, A., Visser, G. H. (2005). Complementary Feeding with Cow's Milk Alters Sleeping Metabolic Rate in Breast-Fed Infants. J. Nutr. 135: 1889-1895 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Owen, C. G., Martin, R. M., Whincup, P. H., Smith, G. D., Cook, D. G. (2005). Effect of Infant Feeding on the Risk of Obesity Across the Life Course: A Quantitative Review of Published Evidence. Pediatrics 115: 1367-1377 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Speiser, P. W., Rudolf, M. C. J., Anhalt, H., Camacho-Hubner, C., Chiarelli, F., Eliakim, A., Freemark, M., Gruters, A., Hershkovitz, E., Iughetti, L., Krude, H., Latzer, Y., Lustig, R. H., Pescovitz, O. H., Pinhas-Hamiel, O., Rogol, A. D., Shalitin, S., Sultan, C., Stein, D., Vardi, P., Werther, G. A., Zadik, Z., Zuckerman-Levin, N., Hochberg, Z., on behalf of the Obesity Consensus Working Group, (2005). Childhood Obesity. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 90: 1871-1887 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Promislow, J. H. E., Gladen, B. C., Sandler, D. P. (2005). Maternal Recall of Breastfeeding Duration by Elderly Women. Am J Epidemiol 161: 289-296 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• London, S. J., Promislow, J. H. E. (2004). BREASTFEEDING AND ASTHMA IN ADOLESCENTS. AJPH 94: 1843-1843 [Full text]  
• (2004). Recent References. J Hum Lact 20: 106-112  
• Clifford, T. J (2003). Breast feeding and obesity. BMJ 327: 879-880 [Full text]  

Online poll

Find out more >>