Your Child's Body Composition May Be Influenced By Breastfeeding Duration and Weaning Diet

A new study, which will be published in the August 2009 issue of The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism discusses how differences in both milk feeding and in the weaning diet (this is defined, in this study, as the time of transition in infancy between a diet based on milk feeding to that of solid foods) are linked to variations in growth and development. The study shows that both of these factors have influences on body composition in early childhood.

Prior studies have shown that a child's early environment may be a factor in childhood obesity. The current study measured body composition in children at four years of age whose diets had been assessed when they were infants. Results showed that children who had been breastfed longer had a lower fat mass which could not be explained by any other differences such as family background or the child’s height.

Dr. Siân Robinson, PhD, of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton in the United Kingdom and lead author of the study states, “Most studies linking infant feeding to later body composition focus on differences in milk feeding, but our study also considered the influence of the weaning diet. We found that, independent of the duration of breastfeeding, children with higher quality weaning diets including fruits, vegetables, and home-prepared foods had a greater lean mass at four years of age.”