Introduction of complementary feeding before 4months of age increases the risk of childhood overweight or obesity: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies

Abstract

The association between the age at introduction of complementary feeding and the risk of overweight or obesity during childhood has been hotly debated, but the result remains uncertain. This meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies attempted to evaluate this association, as well as provide evidence for infant feeding recommendations. The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were systematically searched for relevant original articles published prior to March 1, 2015 that met predefined inclusion criteria. The pooled relative risks (RRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using fix-effect or random-effect models, which were chosen based on heterogeneity among studies. Ten articles consisting of 13 studies, where 8 measured being overweight as an outcome and 5 measured being obese, were included in this meta-analysis. There were a total of 63,605 participants and 11,900 incident cases in the overweight studies, and 56,136 individuals and 3246 incident cases in the obese studies. The pooled results revealed that introducing complementary foods before 4months of age compared to at 4 to 6months was associated with an increased risk of being overweight (RR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.06-1.31) or obese (RR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.07-1.64) during childhood. No significant relationship was observed between delaying introduction of complementary foods after 6months of age, and being overweight (RR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.90-1.13) or obese (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.91-1.14) during childhood. The results of this study suggest that the introduction of complementary foods to infants before 4months of age should be avoided to protect against childhood obesity.

Keywords: Child feeding; Cohort study; Complementary feeding; Meta-analysis; Obesity; Overweight.