Effect of breast feeding on the plasma cholesterol and growth of infants.
The effect of breast-feeding on plasma cholesterol, body weight, and body length was studied longitudinally in a large free-living cohort of infants (n = 512) from birth until the age of 1 year. Of the cohort, 21.4% were exclusively breast-fed for at least 3 months, 39.3% received bottle-feeding, and 39.3% received a combination of breast- and bottle-feeding. At birth the plasma cholesterol was similar in the three groups. After 3 months the mean plasma cholesterol and proportion of hypercholesterolemic infants in the breast-fed group were significantly (p less than 0.001) higher than that of the other two groups. These differences had disappeared at the age of 1 year. Breast-fed infants weighed less at 3 and 12 months, but body length was similar to those of the other groups. These results suggest that breast-feeding elevates plasma cholesterol by a direct mechanism and that the effect persists only as long as the breast-feeding is continued.
Research Institutes for Nutritional Diseases and Biostatistics, Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa.
P L
PL
Jooste
L J
LJ
Rossouw
H J
HJ
Steenkamp
J E
JE
Rossouw
A S
AS
Swanepoel
D O
DO
Charlton
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000097:blood* / Q000254:growth & development; D008137:Longitudinal Studies
D002784:Cholesterol