Breastfeeding and lowering the risk of childhood obesity

Breastfeeding might confer protection against obesity later in life, but the evidence is inconclusive. We tested the hypothesis that breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of obesity in a population-based sample of 32 200 Scottish children studied at age 39–42 months in 1998 and 1999. Obesi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2002-06, Vol.359 (9322), p.2003-2004
Main Authors: Armstrong, Julie, Reilly, John J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Birth Weight
Body Mass Index
Breast Feeding
Breastfeeding & lactation
Child, Preschool
Density measurement
Female
Health risk assessment
Humans
Infant Food
Infant, Newborn
Male
Medical sciences
Metabolic diseases
Obesity
Obesity - epidemiology
Obesity - prevention & control
Prevalence
Risk reduction
Scotland - epidemiology
Social Class
Socioeconomics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Breastfeeding might confer protection against obesity later in life, but the evidence is inconclusive. We tested the hypothesis that breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of obesity in a population-based sample of 32 200 Scottish children studied at age 39–42 months in 1998 and 1999. Obesity was defined as body-mass index (BMI) at the 95th and 98th percentiles or higher. The prevalence of obesity was significantly lower in breastfed children, and the association persisted after adjustment for socioeconomic status, birthweight, and sex. The adjusted odds ratio for obesity (BMI ⩾98th percentile) was 0·70 (95% CI 0·61–0·80). Our results suggest that breastfeeding is associated with a reduction in childhood obesity risk.
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08837-2