Breastfeeding Duration and Timing of Bottle Supplementation: Associations with Body Mass Index from Childhood to Young-Adulthood

Abstract

Evidence for the association between breastfeeding (BF) duration and later body mass index (BMI) is inconsistent. We explored how BF duration and BF type (exclusive or partial) related to BMI from childhood to young adulthood in a Chilean cohort. Infants were recruited at 6 months between 1994 and 1996 in Santiago, Chile (n = 821). Mothers reported date of first bottle and last BF; anthropometry was measured at 1, 5, 10, 16, and 23 years. We tested whether: (1) type of BF at 6 months (none, partial, exclusive) and (2) duration of exclusive BF (p < 0.05). Our results are in partial accordance with others who have not found a protective effect of longer BF for lower BMI.

Keywords

• breastfeeding
• body mass index
• life course