Does breastfeeding or the age at which other foods are introduced to infants affect the risk of obesity in early childhood?
Research on this question has produced mixed results, and a new study has found that a child's fatness at age five is not related to being breastfed or the age in infancy when other foods are introduced.
In studying the association between infant feeding and fatness during early childhood, researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Cincinnati Children's Hospital were the first to use a technique called dual-energy X-ray absorpiometry (DXA) to measure adiposity, or body fatness.
"With the rising prevalence of childhood obesity, interest has increased in determining whether breastfeeding or the delayed introduction of complementary foods - or both - can reduce the risk of later obesity.
We found no such effect," says Dr. Burdette.
Dr. Burdette emphasized, however, that the team's findings in no way diminish the importance of breastfeeding for multiple benefits to mothers and children, including protection from infection and establishing a bond between mother and infant.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed until at least four months of age.
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