 News
9th March 2006
Breast milk does not determine childhood obesity
New research from the US suggests that childhood obesity
is not related to breastfeeding despite earlier research which suggested
breastfeeding could protect against obesity.
The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition measured
the body fatness of 313 American children aged five and found no difference
between those who were breastfed and those who were not.
Lead researcher Dr Hillary Burdette at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
said the results do not diminish the many advantages of breastfeeding.
She said many studies had shown conflicting results on whether or not
breastfeeding and delaying weaning could alter the risk of later obesity.
The team tried to devise a new way to measure a child's body fat, or
adiposity rather than working on a Body Mass Index (BMI).
They developed a special x-ray machine and recruited children from the
age of three into the study. Their mothers were asked about their child's
eating habits in the first year of life.
When the children reached an average of five years old they had their
body fat measured using the x-ray machine.
The report said, "Regardless of the duration of breastfeeding, breastfed
children did not have significantly less fat mass than did children who
were never breast fed.
"When fat mass was compared between groups of children who had different
combinations of breastfeeding and formula feeding and children who were
never breastfed, the differences were not significant."
The team said it was possible that some of the protective effects of
breastfeeding against later obesity were "overestimated" when BMI was
used as a measure.
Ursula Arens, spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, said
the method the researchers used for measuring body fat was more accurate
than methods just based on weighing.
"Previous research has suggested that breast-fed babies may be better
able to regulate their energy intakes over formula-fed babies, but the
outcome of this study does not support this view.
"It does not challenge the many positive health effects for mother and
child, of breast-feeding, but 'obesity prevention', at least up to age
five, does not seem to be a benefit that can now be promoted."
Where to next?
|
