title: Breastfeeding in Obese versus Normal-Weight German Mothers of Various Socioeconomic Status.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To a large extent, breastfeeding practices depend on cultural norms. It is thus of particular importance to examine these practices in various settings, especially when considering the effect of complex factors, such as body mass index (BMI) or socioeconomic status.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to compare the breastfeeding practices of obese mothers with those of normal weight, taking into account social and economic status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) and normal-weight (18.5 kg/m(2) ≤ BMI < 25 kg/m(2)) mothers with children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years were recruited for this study in Leipzig, Germany, via newspaper ads and other means. Kaplan-Meier curves for portraying breastfeeding over time were analyzed using Cox regression after checking the proportional hazards model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty obese and 70 normal-weight mothers were recruited. Significantly fewer obese mothers breastfed (84%) than normal-weight mothers (96%) (95% confidence interval [CI] for the difference is 3 to 22 percentage points, P = .02). Even after adjusting for the level of education and family income, breastfeeding duration was significantly shorter (2.7 months; 95% CI, 0.8-4.6 months; P = .005) in the obese group than in the normal-weight group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings demonstrate that even at the earliest stages, breastfeeding behavior of obese mothers differs from that of normal-weight mothers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany Matthias.Grube@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grube
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keitel-Korndörfer
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wendt
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: von Klitzing
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany Clinical Trial Centre Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petroff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D009765:Obesity; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012923:Social Class; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Germany; breastfeeding; breastfeeding duration; breastfeeding promotion; obesity