title: Breast-feeding and growth in children until the age of 3 years: the Generation R Study.
abstract: Breast-feeding has been suggested to be associated with lower risks of obesity in older children and adults. We assessed whether the duration and exclusiveness of breast-feeding are associated with early postnatal growth rates and the risks of overweight and obesity in preschool children. The present study was embedded in a population-based prospective cohort study from early fetal life onwards, among 5047 children and their mothers in The Netherlands. Compared with children who were breast-fed, those who were never breast-fed had a lower weight at birth (difference 134 (95 % CI - 190, - 77) g). No associations between breast-feeding duration and exclusivity with growth rates before the age of 3 months were observed. Shorter breast-feeding duration was associated with an increased gain in age- and sex-adjusted standard deviation scores for length, weight and BMI (P for trend < 0·05) between 3 and 6 months of age. Similar tendencies were observed for the associations of breast-feeding exclusivity with change in length, weight and BMI. Breast-feeding duration and exclusivity were not consistently associated with the risks of overweight and obesity at the ages of 1, 2 and 3 years. In conclusion, shorter breast-feeding duration and exclusivity during the first 6 months tended to be associated with increased growth rates for length, weight and BMI between the age of 3 and 6 months but not with the risks of overweight and obesity until the age of 3 years.
authors.affiliation: The Generation R Study Group (AE-006), Erasmus Medical Center, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Büşra
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Durmuş
authors.forename: Lenie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Rossem
authors.forename: Liesbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duijts
authors.forename: Lidia R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Arends
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raat
authors.forename: Henriëtte A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.forename: Eric A P
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Steegers
authors.forename: Vincent W V
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Jaddoe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control; D012307:Risk Factors; D015430:Weight Gain