Effects of Breastfeeding on Maternal Body Composition in Moroccan Lactating Women during Twelve Months after Birth Using Stable Isotopic Dilution Technique

Abstract

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of an infant’s life is an important factor for their optimal growth and health. Breastfeeding also has maternal benefits and can assist with postpartum weight loss. As shown by previous studies, postpartum weight retention can contribute to obesity. Objective: To quantify the human milk and evaluate the effect of breastfeeding on maternal weight loss during the 12 months postpartum. Method: This study included 70-mother–baby pairs. Infants’ intake of human milk and water from other sources, as well as the body composition of the mothers, were measured at the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th month postpartum by using the deuterium oxide dose-to-mother technique. Results: There was a significant change in the mothers’ body composition between the first and twelfth months in exclusive breastfeeding women compared to not-exclusive ones. Similarly, the difference between the quantities of human milk intake was highly significant in exclusive breastfeeding women compared to women who were not exclusively breastfeeding. Conclusion: Our results showed that exclusive breastfeeding for twelve months has a significant effect on postpartum weight loss among Moroccan women and that it is an effective way to control overweight and obesity among lactating women.

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and body composition of breast-feeding mothers: the potential role of unsaturated fatty acids

“…Differently, mothers evaluated by Gridneva et al (45) , if compared to mothers included in the present study, show higher weight and adiposity even if they were evaluated at 2 months after the delivery. In a recent study conducted by Rabi et al (46) on mothers exclusively breast-feeding their 1-month babies, FM% is similar to that found in the present study, while FMI is higher. The FMI of IMI-2 group is under the cut-off value considered for the screening of the presence of metabolic syndrome in adult women (47) , while that of IMI-1 is slightly higher.…”

Adipocytes Are the Only Site of Glutamine Synthetase Expression Within the Lactating Mouse Mammary Gland

“…Free glutamine and glutamate in human milk significantly increase by ≤350% and 40%, respectively, within the first 6 months of lactation [ 12 , 26 ]. However, lactation is accompanied by a mild catabolic state in pigs, horses, mice, and humans, characterized by a loss of fat-free mass and decreased glutamine concentrations in plasma and skeletal muscle (indicative of endogenous proteolysis) [ [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] ]. Therefore, understanding maternal glutamine metabolism during lactation is important both to maternal and neonatal health.…”

Prospective associations between breast feeding, metabolic health, inflammation and bone density in women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus

“… 8–13 While an intervention to promote breastfeeding duration did not result in lower percentage of body fat in a large cluster-randomized trial, 14 one cohort study showed a beneficial association between breastfeeding and fat mass index (FMI) in women having had a child in the last 5 years 9 and two prospective studies suggested that exclusive breast feeding was associated with lower fat mass than mixed breastfeeding. 15 16 In addition, breastfeeding has been associated with a lower visceral adipose tissue in some studies. 17–19 Although existing studies that investigated the relationship between breastfeeding duration and lean mass are limited, no significant relationships have been reported.…”