Overweight and obesity in 6- to 14-year-old Czech children in 1991: protective effect of breast-feeding.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of breast-feeding on childhood overweight/obesity in an Eastern European socialist society with relatively homogeneous lifestyles.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey data collected in 1991 on 33,768 school-children aged 6 to 14 years in the Czech Republic were analyzed by using multiple logistic regression analyses (main outcome body mass index [BMI] >90th percentile [overweight] and BMI >97th percentile [obesity]).


RESULTS
Overall prevalence of overweight (obesity) was lower in breast-fed children: ever breast-fed (9.3%; 95% CI, 8.9-9.6 [3.2%; 95% CI, 3.0-3.4]) compared with never breast-fed (12.4%; 95% CI, 11.3-13.6 [4.4%; 95% CI, 3.7-5.2]). The effect of breast-feeding on overweight/obesity did not diminish with age in children 6 to 14 years old and could not be explained by parental education, parental obesity, maternal smoking, high birth weight, watching television, number of siblings, and physical activity. Adjusted odds ratios for breast-feeding were for overweight 0.80 (95% CI, 0.71-0.90) and for obesity 0.80 (95% CI, 0.66-0.96).


CONCLUSIONS
A reduced prevalence of overweight/obesity was associated with breast-feeding in a setting where socioeconomic status was homogeneous. This suggests that the effect of breast-feeding on the prevalence of obesity is not confounded by socioeconomic status.
Toschke
André Michael
AM
Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Institute of Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Munich, Germany.
Vignerova
Jana
J
Lhotska
Lida
L
Osancova
Katerina
K
Koletzko
Berthold
B
Von Kries
Rüdiger
R
D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002648:Child; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003604:Czechoslovakia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors