Impact of breastfeeding on anthropometric changes in peri-urban Toba women (Argentina)

We present an analysis of the effect of lactation on average maternal anthropometric and body composition measures in a population of Toba women in Formosa, Argentina. This indigenous population is undergoing a continuing transition from a seminomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a sedentary, peri-urban one. Using a mixed-longitudinal design, we measured monthly maternal body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness between birth and the 18th month postpartum in 113 breastfeeding women. The pattern of change in postpartum body composition varied with maternal age. Adult women (20 years old and older) did not show significant changes in any of the anthropometric measures during the entire study. Older adult women (30 years old and older) consistently had the highest values in measures of BMI and percentage fat, and tended to retain weight postpartum. Adolescent subjects (19 years old and younger) tended to lose weight during the first 6 months postpartum but regain their prepregnancy weight by 12 months postpartum. The same patterns were observed for changes in body fat percentage and in skinfold thickness. We conclude that in this population the energetic stress of lactation does not pose a serious challenge to the maintenance of long-term maternal energy balance or to short-term energy balance in women over 20 years of age. From a public health perspective, postpartum weight retention in older women may represent a more serious health threat. The low level of energetic stress associated with lactation may also contribute to the relatively short duration of lactational amenorrhea in this population despite a cultural pattern of intensive breastfeeding. (C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.