Socioeconomic status, infant feeding practices and early childhood obesity

Pediatric obesity - Tập 9 Số 2 - Trang 135-146 - 2014
Benjamin G. Gibbs1, Renata Forste1
1Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA

Tóm tắt

SummaryWhat is already known about this subject

Children from low socioeconomic households are at greater risk of obesity.

Children predominantly breastfed have a reduced risk of early childhood obesity.

Yet, it is not known how feeding patterns mediate the relationship between social class and obesity.

What this study adds

Based on a nationally representative, longitudinal study of early childhood, this study finds that healthy infant feeding practices, including predominant breastfeeding, mediates the negative association between social class and obesity at 24 months.

Background

Children from low socioeconomic households are at greater risk of obesity. As breastfeeding can protect against child obesity, disadvantaged infants are less likely to breastfeed relative to more advantaged children. Whether infant feeding patterns, as well as other maternal characteristics mediate the association between social class and obesity has not been established in available research.

Objectives

Examine the impact of infant feeding practices on child obesity and identify the mechanisms that link socioeconomic status (SES) with child obesity.

Methods

Based on a nationally representative longitudinal survey (ECLSB) of early childhood (n = 8030), we examine how breastfeeding practices, the early introduction of solid foods and putting an infant to bed with a bottle mediate the relationship between social class and early childhood obesity relative to the mediating influence of other maternal characteristics (BMI, age at birth, smoking, depression and daycare use).

Results

Infants predominantly fed formula for the first 6 months were about 2.5 times more likely to be obese at 24 months of age relative to infants predominantly fed breast milk. The early introduction of solid foods (< 4 months) and putting the child to bed with a bottle also increased the likelihood of obesity. Unhealthy infant feeding practices were the primary mechanism mediating the relationship between SES and early childhood obesity. Results are consistent across measures of child obesity although the effect size of infant feeding practices varies.

Conclusions

The encouragement and support of breastfeeding and other healthy feeding practices are especially important for low socioeconomic children who are at increased risk of early childhood obesity. Targeting socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers for breastfeeding support and for infant‐led feeding strategies may reduce the negative association between SES and child obesity. The implications are discussed in terms of policy and practice.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

10.1001/jama.286.22.2845

10.1001/jama.2012.40

10.1056/NEJMsr043743

10.1542/peds.2008-1149

10.3109/17477166.2010.524700

10.1542/peds.2005-2801

10.1542/peds.2007-2867

10.1016/j.jhealeco.2004.09.008

10.1177/002214650604700403

10.1038/sj.ijo.0801956

10.1136/bmj.38470.670903.E0

10.1542/peds.114.1.e29

10.1080/17477160600943351

10.1542/peds.113.5.e465

10.1542/peds.2011-3588

WenX ShenassaED ParadisAD.Maternal smoking breastfeeding and risk of childhood overweight: findings from a national cohort.Matern Child Health J2012; 20 June. [WWW document]. URLhttp://www.springerlink.com/content/m3787n8j8p666140/fulltext.pdf(accessed March 22 2013).

10.1542/peds.2004-1176

WangL MamuduHM WuT.The impact of maternal prenatal smoking on the development of childhood overweight in school‐aged children.Pediatr Obes2012; 8 Oct. [WWW document]. URLhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2047‐6310.2012.00103.x/abstract(accessed March 22 2013).

10.1542/peds.2011-2456

10.1542/peds.2010-0166

10.1542/peds.2005-2948

10.1542/peds.2009-2100

10.1111/j.2047-6310.2011.00012.x

10.1038/ijo.2011.88

10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.02.048

Crume TL, 2012, Selective protection against extremes in childhood body size, abdominal fat deposition, and fat patterning in breastfed children, Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 116, 437

10.1542/peds.2007-2329E

10.3109/17477160902763309

10.3109/17477166.2010.490269

10.1177/0890334408317617

10.1001/jama.285.19.2461

10.1002/ajhb.20982

10.3109/17477166.2010.514343

10.1001/jama.285.19.2453

10.1038/sj.ijo.0803160

10.1093/ije/dyr020

10.1080/17477160802453530

10.1111/j.2047-6310.2012.00059.x

10.1542/peds.2009-2549

10.1542/peds.2008-1315j

10.1111/j.2047-6310.2012.00071.x

Li R, 2012, Risk of bottle‐feeding for rapid weight gain during the first year of life, Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 155, 431

10.1542/peds.2004-0801

10.1111/j.1365-277X.2010.01145.x

10.1542/peds.2005-1668

10.1542/peds.2010-0740

10.1177/000992280204100808

10.2105/AJPH.2005.080812

10.1177/1536867X0800800104

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.WHO growth charts. Boy's weight‐for‐age percentiles birth to 24 months; girl's weight‐for‐age percentiles birth to 24 months. [WWW document]. URLhttp://www.cdc/gov/growthcharts(accessed 3 June 2012).

10.1136/bmj.38586.411273.E0

WHO Child Growth Standards, 2006, Length/Height‐for‐Age, Weight‐for‐Age, Weight‐for‐Length, Weight‐for‐Height and Body Mass Index‐for‐Age: Methods and Development

10.1136/bmj.320.7244.1240

10.1007/s10802-008-9279-8

Nord C, 2006, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS‐B) User's Manual for the ECLS‐B Longitudinal 9‐Month–2‐Year Data File and Electronic Codebook (NCES 2006‐046)

10.1542/peds.2011-3552

World Health Organization.The World Health Organization's infant feeding recommendation. [WWW document]. URLhttp://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding_recommendation(accessed 11 November 2012).

10.1016/j.eatbeh.2011.01.002

10.1016/j.appet.2005.10.005

Farrow CV, 2008, Controlling feeding practices: cause or consequence or early child weight?, Pediatrics, 121, e164, 10.1542/peds.2006-3437

10.1023/B:EJEP.0000036890.72029.7c

10.3109/17477166.2011.613651