Breastfeeding and childhood obesity in the azores

Abstract

Background. The hypothesis that breastfeeding has a protective effect in childhood obesity is not new; however, contro-versial results have been published. Since the Azores reported the lowest rate of breastfeeding in Portugal and a high prevalence of childhood obesity, it becomes important to understand whether these facts are related or not. Objectives. To investigate the relationship between breastfeeding and childhood obesity in a population of Azorean children. Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 183 Azorean children between 5–10 years of age between Septem-ber and December 2016. The weight and height of the children were measured at the consultation and other variables were investigated through a questionnaire. The association between breastfeeding and childhood obesity was tested using logistic regression models. Results. 18.6% of the children were obese and 74.3% were breastfed. The exclusive breastfeeding rate at 6 months was 3.3%. Complementary breastfeeding was present in 39.3% at 6 months and 7.1% at 2 years. Obese children were breastfed less time than non-obese children, suggesting a dose-effect relationship (p = 0.025). We found a significant and independent relationship between infant obesity and total time of breastfeeding (RR = 0.906; 95% CI [0.842, 0.974]; p = 0.008), physical activity (RR = 0.883; 95% CI [0.801, 0.972]; p = 0.012) and maternal nutritional status (RR = 3.452; 95% CI [1.361, 8.755]; p = 0.009). Conclusions. Breastfeeding and physical activity behaved as protective factors for childhood obesity, while the nutritional status of the mother acted as a risk factor. Childhood obesity is a current problem in the Azores, and breastfeeding can be an effective, simple and affordable tool to reduce this.