BREAST
FEEDING AND CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Li H, Yv Y, Xia X-L, Tong F
Capital
Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China
Objective: To assess the impact of breast feeding on the risk of obesity in
children aged 6-8 years.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey had been done in
Beijing urban city during September to October 2000. 10221 children aged
6-8 years selected from 41 primary schools as subjects of the survey. Height and weight were measured.
The questionnaire including birth weight, early feeding, diet, activities,
parental height and weight, etc were completed by parents. The weight for
height of NCHS / WHO was used as the reference for being overweight (≥110% of median) or obese(≥120% of
median).
Results: A total of
9712 questionnaire were completed and the response rate was 95.0%. The
prevalence of obesity was 15.4% and the prevalence of overweight was 12.6%.
The prevalence of obesity in those children who had nerve been breast-fed
was18.1% as compared with 14.8% in the breast-fed children (p<0.001). The
prevalence of obesity was 15.0% for 2 months of exclusive breast fed, 14.7%
for 3-5 months, 15.5% for 6-12 months. The prevalence of overweight was
12.4% for 2 months of exclusive breast fed, 13.2% for 3-5 months, 12.4% for
6-12 months. Compared the data on birth weight, maternal/paternal BMI,
parental education level, physical activity between the never breast fed
and ever breast fed, there were no significantly differences.
Conclusion: In urban
city exclusive breast feeding in early months after birth may be one of
positive benefits to decrease the prevalence of obesity in childhood. A
dose-response was not founded for the duration of breast feeding on the
prevalence of being obesity or overweight.