Association of breastfeeding, maternal anthropometry and body composition in women at 30 years of age

Abstract

This study aimed at assessing the association of breastfeeding with maternal body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, fat mass index, fat free mass index, android/gynoid fat ratio and bone mineral density. In 1982, the maternity hospitals in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, were daily visited and all live births were identified and examined. These subjects underwent follow-up for several times. At 30 years of age, the participants were interviewed and examined. Parous women provided information on parity and duration of breastfeeding. Multiple linear regression was used in the multivariate analysis, controlling for genomic ancestry, family income, schooling and smoking at 2004-2005. After controlling for confounding factors, breastfeeding was inversely associated with BMI and fat mass index, whereas breastfeeding per live birth was negatively associated with BMI, waist circumference and fat mass index. Women who had had a child in the last 5 years and had breastfed, showed lower BMI (β = -2.12, 95%CI: -4.2; -0.1), waist circumference (β = -4.46, 95%CI: -8.3; -0.6) and fat mass index (β = -1.79, 95%CI: -3.3; -0.3), whereas no association was observed among those whose last childbirth was > 5 years, but the p-value for the tests of interaction were > 0.05. Our findings suggest that breastfeeding is associated with lower BMI and other adiposity measures, mostly in the first years after delivery. Besides that, it has no negative impact on bone mineral density.

Multilevel analysis of unhealthy bodyweight among women in Malawi: Does urbanisation matter?

“…Other possible explanation for the positive impact of increasing age on unhealthy bodyweight could be due to lower likelihood to breastfeed among older women as corroborated earlier [48,51]. In this study, breastfeeding is protective against overweight which aligns with prior finding [52]. Coupled with a report of a recent decline in breastfeeding in Malawi [14], promotion of breastfeeding in women nutrition, campaign and intervention should therefore be strengthened.…”

Evolution of Postpartum Weight and Body Composition after Excessive Gestational Weight Gain: The Role of Lifestyle Behaviors—Data from the INTER-ACT Control Group

“…Breastfeeding has been previously suggested to affect PPWR and body composition [ 10 , 45 , 46 ]. The findings of the current study specifically support that initiation of exclusive breastfeeding is a determinant of lower PPWR and fat percentage, albeit only in women with overweight and obesity.…”

“…This would imply that starting exclusive breastfeeding, regardless of continuation, is most essential for beneficial maternal health outcomes. This is remarkable, as increased energy expenditure is generally considered to be the underlying reason for the association between breastfeeding and PPWR reduction [ 10 , 45 , 46 ]. It would be expected that duration of breastfeeding plays a role, as longer duration would imply a longer period of exposure to increased energy expenditure.…”

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

“…There are conflicting data regarding its effect on body composition and BMD in the general population. [8][9][10][11][12][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.…”