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Breastfed Baby and Obesity

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Study shows no association between prolonged exclusive breastfeeding and childhood weight, adiposity, or blood pressure at age 6.5 years.

A recent study showed that there were no significant association observed on various measures of adiposity and blood pressure in children who were exclusively breastfed for 6 months compared to those that were not after 6.5 years of follow up. The study, “Effects of prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding on child height, weight, adiposity, and blood pressure at age 6.5 y: evidence from a large randomized trial” by Dr. Michael Kramer was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in November, 2007. According to Dr. Kramer, this study “is the largest randomized trial ever done in the area of human lactation.”

The study examined 13,889 children who had been selected at birth from 31 Belarussian maternity hospitals in the randomized Promotion of the Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT). During the PROBIT trial, researchers recruited moms in maternity hospitals and clinics in Belarus who expressed a desire to start breastfeeding prior to birth. Dr. Kramer randomly assigned hospitals to implement breastfeeding promotion practices and standard care, as advised by the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. The intervention group was encouraged to breastfeed as long and as exclusively as possible, while the control group received no such support. Women in the intervention group breastfed significantly longer than women in the control group (the number of women who exclusively breastfed at three months was seven times higher in the intervention group).

The follow-up took place from December 2002 to April 2005, when the children were six and a half years old. No significant intervention effects were observed for various measures of adiposity, including body mass index, height, waist or hip circumference, triceps or subscapular skinfold thickness, or blood pressure. The authors concluded that “prolonged, exclusive breastfeeding provides no apparent beneficial effects on stature, BMI, or other measures of adiposity, or blood pressure in 6.5 year-old Belarussian children.” The authors further stated that “previously reported beneficial effects on these outcomes may be the result of uncontrolled confounding and selection bias.”

It is important to note that the population studied is a Belarussian cohort, which may have lower rates of obesity than the United States. Nonetheless, the authors conclude that “it seems unwise to depend on current efforts to promote exclusive and prolonged breastfeeding as an effective population health strategy for stemming the current obesity.”

References Cited:

* Kramer, M.S., Matush, L. Vanilovich, I. et al Effects of prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding on child height, weight, adiposity, and blood pressure at age 6.5 y: evidence from a large randomized trial. Am J clin Nutr 2007; 86: 1717-21.