Breastfeeding's Influence on Childhood Obesity

As a mother of two children, I had to come to the decision to breastfeed or formula feed.  I had heard the benefits of breastfeeding, for both the mother and child, from weight loss to preventing obesity.  I decided to breastfeed both my children at birth.

Breastfeeding was a HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE experience from the beginning with my first child.  I could not get her to latch on and it took my mom and husband to help pry her hands away from her face and get her to attach.  We continued this for the next two weeks before finding out she wasn’t gaining enough weight and I had to supplement.  I continued trying to breastfeed, but it became too easy to give her a bottle, so I stopped breastfeeding at seven weeks.

I felt awful.  I felt like a bad parent, who was letting her child down by not providing the best nourishment for her.

When I became pregnant with my son, I decided I was going to breastfeed him, and it was going to work this time.  In the hospital, I had no problems.  It just seemed to get harder when we got home.  I visited a lactation consultant who said my son was tongue-tied which caused the problems.  We had his tongue clipped but it was still a challenge.

I continued until his two-month appointment when we learned he was not gaining enough weight.  I decided to breastfed and supplement.  It worked.  I continued to give him 75 percent breast milk and supplemented with 25 percent formula.  I continued this until he was nine-months old.  Now at 10 months, he is formula fed because my supply dwindled.  Even though they both received formula, neither of my children seems to have weight issues.  I know several other individuals who have been exclusively formula fed and are healthy individuals.

I reviewed two articles on breastfeeding and the link to children avoiding obesity.  Both articles where written about recent studies done on breastfeeding and the link to obesity in children. The first article appeared in TIME in March of 2013. It was a discussion about Dr. Richard Martin’s 12 years of research of 15,000 mothers in Belarus. The women were divided into two groups.  One group was educated and supported with breastfeeding while in the hospital, and the other group received no support with breastfeeding after the birth of their child.  The researchers examined the children three different times, at the ages of one, six-and-a-half, and eleven-and-a-half.  While the breastfed children tended to have fewer gastrointestinal infections, less eczema, and higher IQs, they had no significant advantage in avoiding obesity.  Nearly five percent of the children in each group were considered obese.

These results differed from previous research which showed breastfed children were less likely to become obese than their formula-fed counterparts.  This was believed to occur because breastfed children learned to eat until they were full.  Formula-fed children instinctively ate until the bottle was empty.  However, previous studies allowed mothers to choose breastfeeding or formula feeding, while this study in Belarus randomly assigned them to one group or the other.  When allowed to choose, mothers who choose to breastfeed typically have higher education levels and make different dietary choices than mothers who feed with formula.  This can impact future risks of obesity.

The next article I reviewed was in contrast to the TIME article. Dr. Wendy H. Oddy examined and summarized several research studies to come to the conclusion that breastfeeding has an impact on future obesity.  Infants who are breastfed are less likely to become obese later in their childhood than infants who are formula fed.

The various studies came up with several different reasons.  Thanks to containing lower protein levels, breastfeeding promotes slower growth than formula feeding.  It also creates lower plasma insulin levels that lead to less fat storage.  While the first article argued against this, Dr. Oddy wrote that breastfed infants learn to eat until they are full.  Formula-fed infants tend to drink to empty the bottle.  Because of this, formula-fed infants eat larger meals, as much as 20-30 percent more than breastfed infants.  All of these factors are believed to give breastfed infants a better chance at avoiding obesity later in childhood.

There seems to be no doubt that breastfeeding has several benefits for infants.  However, links to obesity need to be examined further.  There are just too many variables that come into play to determine if breastfeeding truly has an impact. 

Oddy, W. H. (2012). Infant feeding and obesity risk in the child. Breastfeeding Review, 20(2), 7-12. Retrieved July 8, 2013, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=201162244&site=ehost-live

Rochman, B. (2013, March 13). Breastfeeding’s Role in Controlling Obesity Is Weakened. TIME.com. Health & Family: A healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit TIME.com. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/13/breastfeedings-role-in-controlling-obesity-is-weakened/

Sizer, F., & Whitney, E. (2013). Nutrition: concepts & controversies (13th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.