Can breastfeeding avert the appearance of growth pains during childhood?

Abstract

Recurrent pains of the lower extremities (growth pains) constitute the most frequent cause of musculoskeletal pains in children. The disorder's pathophysiological mechanism remains unclear. Numerous researchers have tried to ascertain this by studying the anthropometrical characteristics of the children they examined, their family history and levels of physical activity, even their psychological background. To date though, no study has looked into whether breastfeeding may avert their appearance or limit their intensity and duration. Aiming to investigate the above theory, we conducted interviews with the mothers of 532 children, using a semiconstructed questionnaire. According to Petersen's criteria, 130 children presented growth pains during the last year. Specifically, 32.5% of non-breastfed children presented recurrent lower extremity pains, whereas such pains were identified in only 19.6% of breastfed children (p value = 0.001 < 0.005). The duration of breastfeeding also seems to play an important role. Indeed, amongst children breastfed for up to 40 days, the percentage of those presenting pain is 29.8%, whereas in those breastfed for more than 40 days, the respective percentage fell to 16.2% (p value = 0.001 < 0.005). These results show that there is a statistically significant dependence between the presentation of pains and whether the child had been breastfed or not, as well as the duration of breastfeeding during infancy. On the contrary, in children presenting growth pains, breastfeeding does not seem to affect the type or frequency of pain.