A Study on the Relationship between School-age Obesity and Type of Feeding in Infant Period

Cho, Kyung Lae; Kim, Soo Young

Abstract

PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether breast milk feeding at infancy has the effect of a programming agent preventing school-age obesity, or whether formula milk feeding is the cause of elementary school-age obesity. METHODS: We randomly selected 4 elementary school in Masan and Changwon city. We calculated the BMI and obesity degree from height and weight data on the school record of 1, 275 children of first and second grade. The parents of 1, 275 children were asked to a questionnaire about their birth history and feeding modality during infancy. Based on these data, we categorized them into 4- different groups: breast fed for less than 2 months; breast fed for 2-6 months; breast fed more than 6 months; mixed fed. We compared the mean BMI, obesity degree and prevalence rates of obesity of each groups. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference on the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity, which was defined by BMI, according to the duration of breast feeding. The same was true for mild obesity and moderate obesity, which was defined by obesity degree. The mean BMIs and the mean obesity degree were not different among different feeding types. CONCLUSION: There seems to be no protective effect of breast feeding during infancy on reducing the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity. However, even wider and larger studies considering confounding factor might be needed to reach a definite conclusion in the future.