Breastfeeding, complementary feeding and risk of childhood obesity

Objective: To evaluate the pattern of breastfeeding and weaning as a risk of obesity in preschool children from a Primary Care Unit. Design: Cross-sectional analytical study Location: Cancun, Quintana Roo (Mexico). Participants: Children from 2-4 years of age from a Primary Care Unit. Main measurements: Duration of total and exclusive breastfeeding, age and food utilized for complementary feeding reported by the mother or career of the child and nutritional status assessment evaluated by body mass index (BMI) >= 95 percentile. Determination of prevalence ratio (PR), odds ratio (OR), chi squared (x2), and binary logistic regression. Results: The study included 116 children (55.2% girls) with a mean age of 3.2 years, with obesity present in 62.1%, Exclusive breastfeeding in 72.4% with mean duration of 2.3 months, and age at introducing solids foods was 5.0 months. There was a difference for breastfeeding and complementary feeding by gender sex (P<.05). A PR = 3.9 (95% CI: 1.49-6.34) was calculated for exclusive breastfeeding and risk of obesity. The model showed no association between these variables and obesity in children Conclusions: Exclusive breastfeeding of less than three months is associated with almost 4 more times in obese children. There was a difference in age of complementary feeding, duration of breastfeeding, and formula milk consumption time for obese and non-obese children. (C) 2015 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.