American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on February 2, 2007
American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwk083
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ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION |
Breastfeeding, Weight Gain in Infancy, and Overweight at Seven Years of Age
The Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy Birth Cohort Study
1 Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2 Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
3 Center for Prevention and Health Services Research, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
4 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Erasmus MC – Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
5 Department of Epidemiology and Bioinformatics, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
6 Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Correspondence to Salome Scholtens, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Prevention and Health Services Research (pb 101), P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands (e-mail: salome.scholtens{at}rivm.nl).
Received for publication June 8, 2006. Accepted for publication October 5, 2006.
Compared with nonbreastfed children, breastfed children tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) at about 1 year of age. How the BMI of breastfed children develops after the first year when this difference in BMI at 1 year of age is considered is not clear. The authors studied the association between breastfeeding and BMI development from 1 to 7 years of age independently of BMI at 1 year of age. Longitudinal BMI data reported by parents of 2,347 Dutch children born in 1996–1997 who participated in the Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy birth cohort study were collected. Linear regression and mixed-effects models were used for data analyses. Mean BMI at 1 year of age was 17.2 kg/m2 (standard deviation, 1.4). Compared with nonbreastfed children, children breastfed for >16 weeks had a lower BMI at 1 year of age, after adjustment for confounders (ß = –0.22, 95% confidence interval: –0.39, –0.06). The association between breastfeeding and BMI between 1 and 7 years of age was negligible, while a high BMI at 1 year of age was strongly associated with a high BMI between 1 and 7 years of age in the same model. These findings suggest that the lower BMI and lower risk of overweight among breastfed children later in life are already achieved at 1 year of age.
body mass index; body weight; breast feeding; child; child nutrition sciences; cohort studies; growth; overweight
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; PIAMA, Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy