Infant weight gain, duration of exclusive breast-feeding and childhood BMI - two similar follow-up cohorts

TY - JOUR

T1 - Infant weight gain, duration of exclusive breast-feeding and childhood BMI - two similar follow-up cohorts

AU - Gunnarsdottir, Ingibjorg

AU - Schack-Nielsen, Lene

AU - Michaelsen, Kim F.

AU - Sørensen, Thorkild I.A.

AU - Thorsdottir, Inga

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - Objective To describe the association between duration of exclusive breast-feeding (EBF), weight gain in infancy and childhood BMI in two populations with a long duration of EBF.Design Cohort study with follow-up in childhood. Breast-feeding status was reported monthly during infancy. Weight and length were measured at birth, 2, 6 and 12 months of age, as well as in childhood at 6 or 10 years of age.Setting Iceland and Denmark.Subjects Randomly selected healthy newborns from Denmark (n 85) and Iceland (n 100).Results Infants exclusively breast-fed for ≤2 months gained 348 (95% CI 69, 626) g more weight from 2 to 6 months than infants exclusively breast-fed for 3-4 months (P = 0.009). Weight gain from 6 to 12 months was found to be greater among infants exclusively breast-fed for ≤2 months compared with those exclusively breast-fed for ≥5 months (P = 0008). A greater weight change, in terms of Z-score, between the ages of 2 and 6 months was associated with higher Z-score of childhood BMI, adjusted for birth weight, country and duration of EBF (B = 0.49, se = 0.11, P < 0.001, adj. R2 = 015). However, the association was much stronger in the Icelandic cohort than the Danish one.Conclusions Although duration of EBF was not associated with childhood BMI in the present study it may modulate growth rate in infancy, which is related to childhood BMI. However, other factors determinative for infant growth also need to be considered when assessing the relationship of early growth and nutrition to childhood overweight, as traditions in complementary food might differ between populations.

AB - Objective To describe the association between duration of exclusive breast-feeding (EBF), weight gain in infancy and childhood BMI in two populations with a long duration of EBF.Design Cohort study with follow-up in childhood. Breast-feeding status was reported monthly during infancy. Weight and length were measured at birth, 2, 6 and 12 months of age, as well as in childhood at 6 or 10 years of age.Setting Iceland and Denmark.Subjects Randomly selected healthy newborns from Denmark (n 85) and Iceland (n 100).Results Infants exclusively breast-fed for ≤2 months gained 348 (95% CI 69, 626) g more weight from 2 to 6 months than infants exclusively breast-fed for 3-4 months (P = 0.009). Weight gain from 6 to 12 months was found to be greater among infants exclusively breast-fed for ≤2 months compared with those exclusively breast-fed for ≥5 months (P = 0008). A greater weight change, in terms of Z-score, between the ages of 2 and 6 months was associated with higher Z-score of childhood BMI, adjusted for birth weight, country and duration of EBF (B = 0.49, se = 0.11, P < 0.001, adj. R2 = 015). However, the association was much stronger in the Icelandic cohort than the Danish one.Conclusions Although duration of EBF was not associated with childhood BMI in the present study it may modulate growth rate in infancy, which is related to childhood BMI. However, other factors determinative for infant growth also need to be considered when assessing the relationship of early growth and nutrition to childhood overweight, as traditions in complementary food might differ between populations.

U2 - 10.1017/S1368980009005874

DO - 10.1017/S1368980009005874

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 19607745

SN - 1368-9800

VL - 13

SP - 201

EP - 207

JO - Public Health Nutrition

JF - Public Health Nutrition

IS - 2

ER -