Exclusive breastfeeding for 4 versus 6 months and growth in early childhood.

• Published in: Acta Paediatrica
• Main Authors: Jonsdottir, Olof H, Kleinman, Ronald E, Wells, Jonathan C, Fewtrell, Mary S, Hibberd, Patricia L, Gunnlaugsson, Geir, Thorsdottir, Inga
• Other Authors: Landspitali, Unit Nutr Res, Reykjavik, Iceland, Univ Iceland, Sch Hlth Sci, Fac Food Sci & Nutr, Reykjavik, Iceland, Harvard Univ, Massachusetts Gen Hosp Children, Sch Med, Dept Pediat, Boston, MA USA, UCL Inst Child Hlth, Childhood Nutr Res Ctr, London, England, Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Massachusetts Gen Hosp Children, Div Global Hlth, Boston, MA USA, Directorate Hlth, Reykjavik, Iceland, Reykjavik Univ, Reykjavik, Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2014
• Subjects: Brjóstagjöf; Ungbörn; Börn; Offita; Mataræði; Vöxtur; Þroski; Adult; Anthropometry; Breast Feeding*; Child Development*; Child; Preschool; Female; Food; Humans; Iceland/epidemiology; Infant; Male; Overweight/epidemiology*; Prevalence; Young Adult; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/325410; https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.12433

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the page To investigate the growth and the prevalence of overweight in early childhood among infants exclusively breastfed for 6 months (EBF) compared with those receiving complementary foods from 4 months of age in addition to breast milk (CF). A total of 119 mother-infant pairs were randomised either in the CF or in the EBF group. Weight, length and head circumference of the infants were measured at birth, 6 weeks, and 3-6 months of age. In the follow-up, the children's weight, length and head circumference were measured at 8, 10, 12 and 18 months and weight and height at 29-38 months. There were no differences between groups in the anthropometric outcome measures of weight-for-age (p = 0.78), length-for-age (p = 0.59), head-circumference-for-age (p = 0.82) and BMI-for-age (p = 0.61), using repeated measurements ANOVA. Furthermore, no difference was seen in the prevalence between groups in risk of being overweight or in those who were overweight at 18 months and 29-38 months of age. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 4 or 6 months of life does not seem to affect the risk of being overweight or the prevalence of those who were overweight in early childhood. Eimskip Fund of the University of Iceland