The effect of breastfeeding in body composition of young children

Introduction: the effect of breastfeeding over the body mass components still demands analyses aiming to further investigate the body composition evolution in the after-breastfeeding childhood. Objective: analyze the influence of breastfeeding (BF) over the body composition of children under 3 years old. Methods: 760 children between zero and 3 years old were selected from the data of the longitudinal, home-based study “Saúde das Crianças de São Paulo II” [“São Paulo’s Children Health II”] (1995-1997). The outcome variables used were the anthropometric indexes BMI-for-age (ZBI) and triceps skinfold-for-age (ZDI) expressed in Z-scores based on the WHO reference curve. Panel regression models were used in the analyses, with data from the 3 visits, adjusted by: birth weight, mother’s educational level and mother’s age. Results: there was no association between breastfeeding and ZBI after multiple adjustments. There was inverse association between BF duration and the ZDI index. The interaction between the mother educational level and the BF duration revealed the protective effect of higher educational level over ZDI , when isolated. The mean nutritional indexes showed dose-response effect inversely proportional to the BF duration. Conclusion: breastfeedingshowed protective effect against the mean body fat increase in children younger than 3 years.