ARTICLE Breastfeeding Helps Explain Racial and Socioeconomic Status Disparities in Adolescent Adiposity

The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. OBJECTIVES. Studies suggest that breastfeeding is protective for later obesity; however, this association has not held among all racial and socioeconomic status groups. Racial and socioeconomic status differences in breastfeeding behavior have also been noted. In this study, we formally test whether breastfeeding mediates the relationship between race and socioeconomic status with adolescent adiposity. METHODS.Data were analyzed from 739 black and white 10- to 19-year-old adolescents who participated in a large, school-based study. Parents provided information on parental education, used to measure socioeconomic status, and whether the child was breastfed as an infant. BMI was used to measure adolescent adiposity and was analyzed as a continuous measure (BMI z score) using linear regression and cate-gorically (BMI 85th and 95th percentile) using logistic regression. RESULTS.Black adolescents and those without a college-educated parent were less likely to have been breastfed for 4 months. Race and parental education were eac