Association of gestational diabetes and breastfeeding on obesity prevalence in predominately Hispanic low‐income youth

Abstract

These findings suggest that > 12 months of breastfeeding duration in the gestational diabetes mellitus group and any duration of breastfeeding in the non-gestational diabetes mellitus mothers is needed to reduce obesity levels in a primarily Hispanic population.

Does breastfeeding duration decrease child obesity? An instrumental variables analysis

“…Our results suggest a 10-13% decline over 90 d at age 2. However, in other studies the effects of breastfeeding on obesity diminish over time, suggesting that the food environment at older ages is a more important factor on child weight outcomes in the long run (5,6,19).…”

Postnatal Prevention of Childhood Obesity in Offspring Prenatally Exposed to Gestational Diabetes mellitus: Where Are We Now

“…Any type of breastfeeding for >9 months also decreased overweight risk during childhood when compared to children that had never been breastfed [19]. Finally, a study conducted among Hispanic low-income youth exposed to GDM in utero showed that breastfeeding duration of 12 months seemed necessary to reduce obesity prevalence [20]. Indeed, while children breastfed for ≥12 months had a 72% reduction in obesity prevalence at 2-4 years compared to those who were never breastfed, breastfeeding for a shorter duration (<12 months) was not significantly associated with a decreased prevalence of obesity [20].…”

“…While any duration of breastfeeding has a positive impact on obesity risk in children born from a nondiabetic mother, longer duration seems necessary to show an effect among children born from diabetic mothers [14,19,20]. This difference could possibly be explained by BM composition that is altered by diabetes status but tends to normalize through time among mothers with GDM, as glycemia returns to normal ranges after delivery [21].…”

“…Thus, it has been demonstrated that being born from a mother with both GDM and overweight had the strongest effect on childhood obesity risk, when compared to mothers with only GDM or overweight [25]. The majority of studies in this section adjusted their results for maternal BMI, but some have not, which could lead to divergent conclusions [17,18,20]. Finally, birth weight is also considered as a significant predictor of childhood obesity risk [26].…”

“…Some authors suggested that the association between exposure to GDM and obesity risk in childhood would be partially explained by elevated birth weight, highlighting the importance to consider this cofactor in analyses [28]. The majority of studies presented in this section adjusted their results for birth weight [13,14,15,19,20]. …”