Journal of Experimental & Clinical Medicine
Volume 2, Issue 4 , Pages 165-172, August 2010

Effect of Breastfeeding Duration on Infant Growth Until 18 Months of Age: A National Birth Cohort Study

  • Sing-Chung Li

      Affiliations

    • School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Shu-Chen Kuo

      Affiliations

    • Department of Healthcare Management, Yuanpei University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ying-Ying Hsu

      Affiliations

    • School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Shio-Jean Lin

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, National Cheng-Kung University Hospital, and College of Medicine, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Pau-Chung Chen

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, National Taiwan University College of Public Health, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Yi-Chun Chen

      Affiliations

    • School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 11042, Taiwan

Received 28 December 2009; received in revised form 1 April 2010; accepted 4 May 2010.

Article Outline

Background

Optimal nutrition during the 1st year of life is critical to infants' healthy growth and development, and breastfeeding is a key component. However, little is known about the effect of breastfeeding duration on infant growth in Taiwan.

Purpose

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of breastfeeding duration on infant growth.

Methods

This study was based on questionnaire interviews as part of the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study, which collected information on breastfeeding duration and infant growth among infants aged from 0 to 18 months. Participants were selected from Taiwan birth registry data for 2005, using multistage stratified random sampling. The sample population was 15,868 infants ranging in gestational age between 37 and 41 weeks, excluding those with birth defects or who were hospitalized after birth. The χ2 test, analysis of variance and generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the effects of infant feeding patterns and other factors on infant growth.

Results

Breastfeeding duration had no significant effect on infant weight within the first 6 months, but after the 7th month, infants who had been breastfed for ≥6 months were lighter than infants who were not breastfed. Before 18 months of age, infants who had been breastfed for ≥6 months were slightly shorter than infants who had been breastfed for <6 months. From the 7th month onward, breastfed infants were slightly shorter than formula-fed infants.

Conclusion

These results show that different infant feeding practices correspond to differences in infant growth from 0 to 18 months, and are consistent with the World Health Organization's new growth standards.

Key Words:  breastfeeding , infant feeding , infant growth , infant height , infant weight

No full text is available. To read the body of this article, please view the PDF online.

 

Back to Article Outline

References 

  1. World Health Organization  . The World Health Report 2005: Make Every Mother and Child Count . Geneva: WHO; 2005;
  2. Picciano MF . Nutrient composition of human milk . Pediatr Clin North Am . 2001;48:53–67
  3. Hamosh M . Bioactive factors in human milk . Pediatr Clin North Am . 2001;48:69–86
  4. Oddy WH, Sly PD, de Klerk NH, Landau LI, Kendall GE, Holt PG, et al. Breast feeding and respiratory morbidity in infancy: a birth cohort study . Arch Dis Child . 2003;88:224–228
  5. Friedman NJ , Zeiger RS . The role of breast-feeding in the development of allergies and asthma . J Allergy Clin Immunol . 2005;115:1238–1248
  6. Hitchcock NE , Gracey M , Gilmour AI . The growth of breast fed and artificially fed infants from birth to twelve months . Acta Paediatr Scand . 1985;74:240–245
  7. Dewey KG, Peerson JM, Brown KH, Krebs NF, Michaelsen KF, Persson LA, et al  Growth of breast-fed infants deviates from current reference data: a pooled analysis of US, Canadian, and European data sets. World Health Organization Working Group on Infant Growth . Pediatrics . 1995;96:495–503
  8. Dewey KG . Growth characteristics of breast-fed compared to formula-fed infants . Biol Neonate . 1998;74:94–105
  9. Haschke F , van't Hof MA . Euro-Growth references for breast-fed boys and girls: influence of breast-feeding and solids on growth until 36 months of age. Euro-Growth Study Group . J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr . 2000;31(Suppl 1):S60–S71
  10. Kramer MS, Guo T, Platt RW, Sevkovskaya Z, Dzikovich I, Collet JP, et al  Infant growth and health outcomes associated with 3 compared with 6 mo of exclusive breastfeeding . Am J Clin Nutr . 2003;78:291–295
  11. WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group  . WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age . Acta Paediatr Suppl . 2006;450:76–85
  12. Chuang CH , Chang PJ , Hsieh WS , Tsai YJ , Lin SJ , Chen PC . Chinese herbal medicine use in Taiwan during pregnancy and the postpartum period: a population-based cohort study . Int J Nurs Stud . 2009;46:787–795
  13. Dewey KG , Heinig MJ , Nommsen LA , Peerson JM , Lönnerdal B . Growth of breast-fed and formula-fed infants from 0 to 18 months: the DARLING Study . Pediatrics . 1992;89:1035–1041
  14. Nielsen GA , Thomsen BL , Michaelsen KF . Influence of breastfeeding and complementary food on growth between 5 and 10 months . Acta Paediatr . 1998;87:911–917
  15. Spyrides MH , Struchiner CJ , Barbosa MT , Kac G . Effect of predominant breastfeeding duration on infant growth: a prospective study using nonlinear mixed effect models . J Pediatr . 2008;84:237–243
  16. Bartok CJ , Ventura AK . Mechanisms underlying the association between breastfeeding and obesity . Int J Pediatr Obes . 2009;4:1–9
  17. Dewey KG . Is breastfeeding protective against child obesity? . J Hum Lact . 2003;19:9–18
  18. Baker-Henningham H , Powell C , Walker S , Grantham-McGregor S . Mothers of undernourished Jamaican children have poorer psychosocial functioning and this is associated with stimulation provided in the home . Eur J Clin Nutr . 2003;57:786–792
  19. Surkan PJ , Kawachi I , Ryan LM , Berkman LF , Carvalho Vieira LM , Peterson KE . Maternal depressive symptoms, parenting self-efficacy, and child growth . Am J Public Health . 2008;98:125–132
  20. Blyth R , Creedy DK , Dennis CL , Moyle W , Pratt J , De Vries SM . Effect of maternal confidence on breastfeeding duration: an application of breastfeeding self-efficacy theory . Birth . 2002;29:278–284
  21. Noel-Weiss J , Rupp A , Cragg B , Bassett V , Woodend AK . Randomized controlled trial to determine effects of prenatal breastfeeding workshop on maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy and breastfeeding duration . J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs . 2006;35:616–624
  22. Wilhelm SL , Rodehorst TK , Stepans MB , Hertzog M , Berens C . Influence of intention and self-efficacy levels on duration of breastfeeding for midwest rural mothers . Appl Nurs Res . 2008;21:123–130
  23. Heinig MJ , Nommsen LA , Peerson JM , Lonnerdal B , Dewey KG . Energy and protein intakes of breast-fed and formula-fed infants during the first year of life and their association with growth velocity: the DARLING Study . Am J Clin Nutr . 1993;58:152–161
  24. Lucas A , Sarson DL , Blackburn AM , Adrian TE , Aynsley-Green A , Bloom SR . Breast vs bottle: endocrine responses are different with formula feeding . Lancet . 1980;1:1267–1269
  25. Rolland-Cachera MF , Deheeger M , Akrout M , Bellisle F . Influence of macronutrients on adiposity development: a follow up study of nutrition and growth from 10 months to 8 years of age . Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord . 1995;19:573–578
  26. von Kries R, Koletzko B, Sauerwald T, von Mutius E, Barnert D, Grunert V, et al. Breast feeding and obesity: cross sectional study . BMJ . 1999;319:147–150
  27. Gillman MW, Rifas-Shiman SL, Camargo CA, Berkey CS, Frazier AL, Rockett HR, et al  Risk of overweight among adolescents who were breastfed as infants . JAMA . 2001;285:2461–2467
  28. Armstrong J , Reilly JJ . Breastfeeding and lowering the risk of childhood obesity . Lancet . 2002;359:2003–2004
  29. Burke V, Beilin LJ, Simmer K, Oddy WH, Blake KV, Doherty D, et al  Breastfeeding and overweight: longitudinal analysis in an Australian birth cohort . J Pediatr . 2005;147:56–61
  30. Novotny R, Coleman P, Tenorio L, Davison N, Camacho T, Ramirez V, et al  Breastfeeding is associated with lower body mass index among children of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands . J Am Diet Assoc . 2007;107:1743–1746
  31. Saha KK , Frongillo EA , Alam DS , Arifeen SE , Persson LA , Rasmussen KM . Appropriate infant feeding practices result in better growth of infants and young children in rural Bangladesh . Am J Clin Nutr . 2008;87:1852–1859
  32. Black RE , Brown KH , Becker S , Yunus M . Longitudinal studies of infectious diseases and physical growth of children in rural Bangladesh. I. Patterns of morbidity . Am J Epidemiol . 1982;115:305–314
  33. Alam DS , Marks GC , Baqui AH , Yunus M , Fuchs GJ . Association between clinical type of diarrhea and growth of children under 5 years in rural Bangladesh . Int J Epidemiol . 2000;29:916–921
  34. Yoon PW , Black RE , Moulton LH , Becker S . Effect of not breastfeeding on the risk of diarrheal and respiratory mortality in children under 2 years of age in Metro Cebu, The Philippines . Am J Epidemiol . 1996;143:1142–1148
  35. Arifeen S , Black RE , Antelman G , Baqui A , Caulfield L , Becker S . Exclusive breastfeeding reduces acute respiratory infection and diarrhea deaths among infants in Dhaka slums . Pediatrics . 2001;108:E67
  36. Uauy R , De Andraca I . Human milk and breast feeding for optimal mental development . J Nutr . 1995;125(Suppl 8):S2278–S2280

PII: S1878-3317(10)60026-5

doi:10.1016/S1878-3317(10)60026-5

Journal of Experimental & Clinical Medicine
Volume 2, Issue 4 , Pages 165-172, August 2010

Article Tools