Overweight and Obesity in 6- to 14-Year-Old Czech Children in 1991: Protective Effect of Breast-Feeding

Biological Determinants Linking Infant Weight Gain and Child Obesity: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

“…Mixed feeding may still provide a protective, albeit a much smaller, effect against childhood obesity (24,69,70), but the duration of partial breastfeeding necessary to impart a protective effect is longer than when breastfeeding is exclusive (71). This longer duration may be difficult to obtain given that mixed feeding is also associated with shorter duration of any breastfeeding (70).…”

Breast feeding and obesity

“…Large sample sizes mean large budgets, particularly when the outcome of interest (obesity) is measured years or decades later. Sample size also goes hand in hand with the issue of statistical power and its corollary, type 2 error, and this could explain the negative findings in these studies 341112. However, it is difficult to draw such a conclusion because none of these studies stated explicitly and a priori the hypothesis that was to be tested.…”

“…The short term benefits of breast feeding are not doubted, and it is the safest, most economical, and most convenient way to promote infant health and nutrition on a global scale 3. Increasing evidence4 – 8 shows that having been breast fed may have longer term benefits, including prevention of obesity; but this evidence is uncertain 910. Two articles in this issue evaluate whether having been breast fed protects against later obesity 1112.…”

“…For example, more than half of the studies examining the connection between early infant nutrition and later obesity rely on retrospective assessments of breast feeding 46 – 81011. Such assessments are subject to greater bias than studies that collect this information prospectively.…”

“…In any observational study, adjusting for such variables is essential to arrive at an estimate of the independent effect of the exposure (breast feeding) on the outcome (obesity). For example, socioeconomic status was measured by using father's occupation,410 maternal education,312 highest level of education attained by either parent,67 or household income by census tract 8. Differing methods for measuring and adjusting for confounders could contribute to the conflicting findings.…”