Breastfeeding lowers risk of childhood obesity — no matter the mother’s weight: study

Breastfeeding infants has been shown to reduce their risk of developing childhood obesity.

A new study, published recently in the journal Pediatrics, found that risk is lower regardless of the mother’s body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy.

“Health professionals can use this study’s findings as an opportunity to encourage and promote breastfeeding among all women, especially those who have obesity,” Dr. Gayle Shipp, an assistant professor at Michigan State University who led the research, said in a statement.

BMI uses your height and weight to determine your body fat. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 suggests the person is overweight; a BMI of 30 to 39 demonstrates obesity; and a BMI of 40 and up indicates severe obesity.

30.7% of US adults are overweight; 42.4% are obese; and 9.2% are severely obese, according to 2018 government data.

For this study, BMIs were recorded for 8,134 pairs of mothers and kids across 16 states and Puerto Rico.

Researchers calculated BMI scores for the child participants by comparing the kids’ height and weight, taken when they reached 2 to 6 years of age, to those of their peers.

Two scenarios were explored in the study — whether the mother ever breastfed and whether the mother exclusively breastfed her child at 3 months old or used formula.

Scientists found that any amount of consistent breastfeeding during an infant’s first three months translated to lower child BMI scores — regardless of the mother’s pre-pregnancy BMI.

This link seems to be stronger for women who were obese before getting pregnant, rather than overweight.

Exclusive breastfeeding when the baby was 3 months old meant a lower child BMI score only for women with a pre-pregnancy BMI in the normal range.

Each additional month of breastfeeding (exclusively or with formula) was associated with significantly lower child BMI scores, especially for mothers who were overweight or obese before they got pregnant.

“Our findings highlight that each additional month of breastfeeding, whether a consistent amount or exclusively, may contribute to a lower weight later in childhood, especially for mothers who had obesity before pregnancy,” Shipp said.

Her research was funded by the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Program at the National Institutes of Health.

Breast milk — which is rich in vitamins, minerals, nutrients and antibodies — has been shown to provide a host of health benefits, including lowering the risk of developing asthma, Type 1 diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome, and other conditions.

A study of children born in 2019 found that 83.2% received at least some breast milk at birth, and 78.6% consumed breast milk at 1 month old.

At 6 months old, 55.8% received some breast milk and 24.9% got breast milk exclusively.