title: Relationship between breast-feeding and adiposity in infants and pre-school children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to establish associations of duration of breast-feeding with mean BMI and waist circumference, as well as the likelihood of being overweight/obese, during early childhood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional, population-based study. Height, weight and waist circumference were measured and BMI calculated. Interviewer-administered questionnaire determined whether the child was ever breast-fed and the duration of breast-feeding.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sydney, Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Infants and pre-school children (n 2092) aged 1-6 years were examined in the Sydney Paediatric Eye Disease Study during 2007-2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the children aged 1-6 years, 1270 had been breast-fed compared with 822 who were never breast-fed. After multivariable adjustment, 1-6-year-old children who were ever breast-fed compared with those who were not had significantly lower BMI, 16·7 (se 0·1) kg/m2                   v. 17·1 (se 0·2) kg/m2 (P = 0·01). Decreasing BMI was associated with increasing duration of breast-feeding (P                  trend = 0·002). After multivariable adjustment, each month increase in breast-feeding was associated with an average BMI decrease of 0·04 kg/m2 (P = 0·002) and 0·03 kg/m2 (P = 0·03) among children aged 1-2 years and 3-4 years, respectively. In 1-2-year-old children, each month increase in breast-feeding duration was associated with a 0·06 cm decrease in waist circumference (P = 0·04). Significant associations were not observed among 5-6-year-old children. Children who were ever breast-fed v. those never breast-fed were less likely to be overweight/obese (multivariable-adjusted OR = 0·54; 95 % CI 0·36, 0·83).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated a modest influence of breast-feeding on children's BMI during early childhood, particularly among those aged less than 5 years.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Hawkesbury Road, Westmead, New South Wales 2145, Australia.
authors.forename: Bamini
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gopinath
authors.forename: Indhu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: Victoria M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Flood
authors.forename: Louise A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Baur
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pfund
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burlutsky
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000367:Age Factors; D001315:Australia; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055105:Waist Circumference