title: Breastfeeding is associated with lower body mass index among children of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the prevalence of breastfeeding and overweight in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and the relationship between the two.
  
  
  METHODS
  A random cluster survey of 420 children (aged 6 months to 10 years), was conducted in the CNMI in June and July of 2005. Children were measured for weight and height and caregivers were asked about past feeding habits by trained investigators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-three percent of children were ever breastfed; 53% were still breastfed at 6 months, and 22% at 1 year of age. Five percent of children were found to be underweight (<5th percentile), while 15% were at risk for overweight (85th to <95th percentile) and 19% were overweight (>95th percentile), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention body mass index for age reference data. Children who had been breastfed had a substantially lower body mass index than children who had not breastfed, after adjusting for age, sex, birthweight, and years of mother's education.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings will be used to guide program development in the CNMI.
authors: Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu 96822, USA. novotny@hawaii.edu
authors: Rachel
authors: R
authors: Novotny
authors: Patricia
authors: P
authors: Coleman
authors: Lynn
authors: L
authors: Tenorio
authors: Nicola
authors: N
authors: Davison
authors: Tayna
authors: T
authors: Camacho
authors: Vickie
authors: V
authors: Ramirez
authors: Vinutha
authors: V
authors: Vijayadeva
authors: Pedro
authors: P
authors: Untalan
authors: Margaret Diaz
authors: MD
authors: Tudela
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008297:Male; D008849:Micronesia; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology*