Breastfeeding duration is associated with offspring’s adherence to prudent dietary pattern in adulthood: results from the Nutritionist’s Health Study

Abstract

Little is known about the long-term effect of breastfeeding on dietary habits. We examined the association between breastfeeding duration and adherence to current dietary patterns of young women. This was a cross-sectional analysis of 587 healthy women aged ≤45 years, undergraduates or nutrition graduates. Maternal characteristics and breastfeeding duration [<6; 6–<12; ≥12 months (reference)] were recalled. Diet was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire and patterns were identified using factor analysis by principal component. Adherence to patterns was categorized in tertiles; the first (T1 = reference) was compared to T2 + T3 (moderate-to-high adherence). Logistic regression was performed considering the minimal sufficient adjustment recommended by the directed acyclic graph. Median age was 22 (interquartile range (IQR) 20; 27) years and body mass index (BMI) 22.2 (IQR 20.4; 25.0) kg/m2. The four dietary patterns identified (Processed, Prudent, Brazilian and Lacto-vegetarian) explained 27% of diet variance. Women breastfed for <6 months showed lower chance of moderate-to-high adherence to the Prudent pattern (odds ratio (OR) = 0.53, p = 0.04). Breastfeeding was not associated with the other patterns. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was directly associated with moderate-to-high adherence to the Processed pattern (OR = 2.01, p = 0.03) and inversely to the Prudent pattern (OR = 0.52, p = 0.02). Higher adherence to the Brazilian pattern was associated with proxies of low socioeconomic status and the Lacto-vegetarian pattern with the opposite. Confirmation in prospective studies of the association found in this study between breastfeeding with the Prudent pattern in adult offspring could suggest that early feeding practices influence long-term dietary habits, which could then affect the risk of nutrition-related diseases.

Pre-pregnancy BMI is associated with offspring body composition in adulthood before adiposity-related disorders: a retrospective cohort

“…The third mechanism refers to common environmental factors, transmitted from mother to offspring, such as dietary habits (9,32) . Our previous study (12) showed that daughters of overweight mothers had lower chance to adhere to a prudent diet, characterised by healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and higher chance to adhere to a processed diet, composed of high energy density foods, such as fast foods, sweets and fried food, which could favour body fat accumulation (35) .…”

“…Genetic components could partly explain this association (9) , but it is known that epigenetic mechanisms, through metabolic programming during the first 1000 d of life, play an important role on this issue (10,11) . Maternal lifestyle, mainly related to dietary intake habits, may influence offspring behaviours and risk for outcomes (9,12) . In this context, our group found that maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was associated with offspring adherence to a processed and prudent dietary pattern in adulthood (12) .…”

“…Maternal lifestyle, mainly related to dietary intake habits, may influence offspring behaviours and risk for outcomes (9,12) . In this context, our group found that maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was associated with offspring adherence to a processed and prudent dietary pattern in adulthood (12) .…”

Birth weight associated with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry-determined muscle–bone unit in young healthy women from the Nutritionists’ Health Study

“…Participants of both sexes answered online structured questionnaires regarding sociodemographic data, family history, early life events, lifestyle, current diet, and clinical data. 16,17 Further, a convenience sample of the first 200 healthy participants (extra 10% to compensate losses) was invited to visit the health care center of the School of Public Health of the University of São Paulo for clinical examination, biological samples collections, and to undergo muscle performance tests and DXA.…”

The Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (JDOHaD) celebrates the contribution of women in DOHaD on International Women’s Day

“…Eshriqui et al 4 asked a group of healthy premenopausal women to recall their duration of breastfeeding and related this to their ability to adhere to a dietary pattern. Interestingly, those women who reported a longer duration of breastfeeding were more likely to adhere to a prudent dietary habit.…”