Is exclusive breastfeeding and its duration related to cardio respiratory fitness in childhood?

Abstract

Breastfeeding more than 6 months has positive effects on CRF, and the early nutrition may be a predictor for adolescence physical health.

Relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and cardiorespiratory fitness in children and adolescents: A meta‐analysis

“…The cross‐sectional studies met 50% to 100% of the quality criteria, as assessed by the Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross Sectional Studies . It should be noted that all of them obtained an overall appraisal of “include.” (Table ) The three longitudinal studies scored 9, 6, and 7 stars, respectively, with all of them obtaining the highest possible score within the omparability category. (Table ).…”

“…The main characteristics of the studies included are summarized in Table . All manuscripts were published between 2008 and 2019, two included participants from numerous European countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Greece, France, and Austria), one included participants from Estonia and Sweden, and the others were from England, Iran, Spain, Brazil, and Greece . Five manuscripts provided data using a cross‐sectional design, and three were longitudinal studies …”

“…The sample size of the studies included ranged from 230 to 5125 participants, who were aged between seven and 15 years. Six studies stratified breastfeeding duration and exclusivity into four groups: (a) never or formula fed; (b) <3 or 0‐3; (c) 3‐5, 3‐6 or 4‐6; and (d) ≥6, 7‐12 or ≥7 months; and the other two categorized it in three groups: formula fed, ≤6 and >6 months; and <1, 1‐5 and ≥6 months, respectively . The included studies used three different tools for quantifying CRF: the progressive 20 m shuttle run test (SRT) (measured in stage, VO 2 max.…”

“…Cardiorespiratory fitness levels are influenced by genetic, biological, social, environmental, and lifestyle factors, including breastfeeding . Although several studies have analyzed the association between breastfeeding exposure and CRF levels and other fitness components later in life, their results are inconclusive . Some studies that considered the duration of any breastfeeding (ie, exclusive breastfeeding and/or mixed breastfeeding) did not report association between any breastfeeding duration and CRF .…”

“…Some studies that considered the duration of any breastfeeding (ie, exclusive breastfeeding and/or mixed breastfeeding) did not report association between any breastfeeding duration and CRF . However, some of those analyzed only exclusive breastfeeding found a positive correlation between exclusive breastfeeding duration and CRF …”