Infant-feeding patterns are related to blood cholesterol concentration in prepubertal children aged 5–11 y: The Fleurbaix-Laventie Ville Santé study

Abstract

Objective: Several studies, mainly in animals, but also in humans, have shown that diet in infancy is associated with differences in blood cholesterol concentrations later in life. The objective was to examine this relationship in children aged 5 ± 11 y after taking into account their current diet and parental hypercholesterolemia. Setting and subjects: 251 prepubertal boys and 223 prepubertal girls enrolled in the schools in two little towns in northern France. Design and methods: Cross-sectional evaluation including measurements of cholesterol concentrations on capillary blood and a single weekday food intake record. Infant feeding patterns were obtained by questionnaire given to the mothers Results: 50% of the children had been breast-fed for a median duration of less than 2 months. Cow's milk was introduced in the diet as whole milk for 33% of the children. After adjustment for age, height, and sibship, capillary cholesterol concentration was lower in boys who had been breast fed (geometric mean: 4.4, 95% con®dence interval of the mean: 4.2 ± 4.6 mmolaL) than in those fed with formula (4.7, 4.5 ± 4.8 mmolaL, P`0.03). In girls, breastfeeding had no signi®cant effect on blood cholesterol concentration, which was associated with the type of cow's milk given in infancy: whole milk: 4.9 mmolaL (4.7 ± 5.2); totally or partially skimmed milk: 4.5 mmolaL (4.2 ± 4.6), P`0.008. The current saturated fat and cholesterol intakes and parental hypercyholesterolemia were associated with current blood cholesterol concentration in children, but did not modify its relationship with infant feeding patterns. Conclusion: Results of the present study suggest that diet in infancy may have longstanding effect on lipid metabolism.

Breast feeding and blood lipid concentrations in male Brazilian adolescents

“…20 The lack of association seems to be in agreement with most of the available literature. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] An exception is the recent study by Singhal and colleagues, 1 which has the advantage of being a randomised trial, but also has its limitations. In the randomised analyses presented in their paper, 253 eligible preterm infants were allocated to receive banked breast milk for 40 days; of these, 66 (26%) were traced at ages 13-16 years.…”

Infant Feeding and Blood Cholesterol: A Study in Adolescents and a Systematic Review

“…[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] After correspondence with the authors of 2 studies in adults, the provision of unpublished data made it possible to include 2 additional studies in the meta-analysis. 8,24,41 In most studies, breast-and bottle-feeding groups were separate, although in 7 studies the breastfeeding group also included mixed feeders, 12,[42][43][44][45][46][47] and in 2 studies bottle feeders were mixed fed. 9,48 In 7 additional studies, the exclusiveness of infant feeding could not be verified (Table 1).…”

Breast feeding and cardiovascular disease risk factors, incidence, and mortality: the Caerphilly study

“…54 Our finding of no association between breast feeding and insulin resistance is in line with a cross sectional study from France showing no difference in blood glucose levels in breast and formula fed children. 55 Others, in contrast, show improved glucose tolerance 20 and reduced type 2 diabetes 21 associated with breast feeding. These studies were in selected populations (infants exposed to the Dutch famine and Pima Indians respectively) and may not be generalisable.…”