Association Between Breastfeeding and Overweight/Obesity in Schoolchildren Aged 7-14 Years

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of breastfeeding (BF) and the association between occurrence/duration of BF and overweight/obesity in schoolchildren aged 7-14 years. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, conducted in 2012-2013, on schoolchildren aged 7-14 years from Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil. Weight and height were measured according to procedures of the World Health Organization. Breastfeeding and sociodemographic data were obtained from a questionnaire responded by parents/guardians. BF was categorized as a dichotomous variable (yes/no) and according to duration (months). Nutritional status was evaluated according to the Z score of the body mass index per age for sex and it was categorized into two groups: normal weight (<Z score+1) and overweight/obesity (≥Z score+1). The adjusted analysis was performed by logistic regression in two age strata (age groups of 7-10 and 11-14 years). Results: 6.6% of schoolchildren had never breastfed; 16.8% had been breastfed for ≤3 months; 16.7%, for 4-6 months; and 59.9%, for ≥7 months. No statistically significant differences were found in the occurrence and duration of BF between the age groups. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 34.2%. For age groups (7-10 and 11-14 years), the prevalence of overweight/obesity was 36.7% and 29.8%, respectively. Chance of overweight/obesity for the age group of 7-10 years was lower among schoolchildren who were breastfed (OR=0.54; 95%CI 0.33-0.88), when compared with those who never breastfed. When categorized, the chance of overweight/obesity in the age group of 7-10 years was lower for duration of BF ≤3 months (OR=0.41; 95%CI 0.20-0.83), and 4-6 months (OR=0.48; 95%CI 0.28-0.82) when compared with children who never breastfed. Conclusions: BF for at least six months was associated with a lower chance of overweight/obesity for schoolchildren aged 7-10 years. No association was found for schoolchildren aged 11-14 years.

Neighborhood Availability and Use of Food, Physical Activity, and Social Services Facilities in Relation to Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents

“…In 2013, the prevalence of overweight/obesity in Florianópolis was 36.7% among younger children (7-10 years old) and 29.8% among adolescents (11-14 years old). 29 In 2010, Florianópolis’ Index of Human Development (IHD) was classified as very high (0.847), while for Brazil it was 0.727. 30 The IHD is a composite measure of a city or country’s longevity, education, and income.…”

“…Adding 10% to this value due to possible losses or refusals, the final sample size was estimated to be 2880 schoolchildren. 29 , 33 , 34 The reached sample size is sufficient to find odds ratio (OR) higher than 1.5 with a power of 80%, and an α-error of 5%. The sample was selected by clusters and according to the number of students enrolled in each school.…”

“… Abbreviations: CSA, centers for Social Assistance; IBGE, Brazilian Institute of Geographic and Statistics; POS, public open spaces. a Source of information: Wagner et al 29 and IBGE (available at https://cnae.ibge.gov.br/?option=com_cnae&view=estrutura&Itemid=6160&chave=&tipo=cnae&versao_classe=7.0.0&versao_subclasse=9.1.0 ). …”

“…The sampling method has been described in greater detail elsewhere. 29,34 From this sample, 4.2% (n ¼ 104) did not live in Florianópolis; 4.7% (n ¼ 117) did not inform their residential addresses; 1.5% (n ¼ 37) were not found in the geocoding location; and 0.8% (n ¼ 20) did not have valid data on the outcome measure. The total number of schoolchildren included in this analysis was 2206 (88.8% of the initial sample investigated).…”

Age at menarche and its association with overweight including obesity and socio‐economic conditions of Brazilian schoolgirls: A time‐trend analysis

“…Data were collected from 2506 schoolchildren in 2012 (87% of the sample size estimation) and 1638 in 2018/2019 (56.6% of the sample size estimation), including 1334 and 903 girls, respectively. The sampling procedure used in 2012 is described in detail elsewhere (Wagner et al, 2021).…”