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. 2018 Aug;57(5):1985-1993.
doi: 10.1007/s00394-018-1639-8. Epub 2018 Feb 22.

Early introduction of complementary foods and childhood overweight in breastfed and formula-fed infants in the Netherlands: the PIAMA birth cohort study

Linda P M Pluymen  1 , Alet H Wijga  2 , Ulrike Gehring  3 , Gerard H Koppelman  4 , Henriëtte A Smit  5 , L van Rossem  5
Affiliations

Early introduction of complementary foods and childhood overweight in breastfed and formula-fed infants in the Netherlands: the PIAMA birth cohort study

Linda P M Pluymen et al. Eur J Nutr. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate whether early introduction of complementary foods (CF) is associated with an increased risk of overweight during childhood, and whether this association differs between formula-fed and breastfed infants.

Methods: We included 2611 participants that were born at term from a Dutch population-based birth cohort (n = 3963) designed to investigate the development of asthma and allergies. Parents kept records of their infant's age when CF were first introduced. Weight and height were parent reported yearly from age 1 to 8 years, and at ages 11, 14 and 17 years. We used multivariate generalized estimating equations analysis to investigate the association between timing of CF introduction (before 4 months vs at or after 4 months of age) and overweight at ages 1-17 years.

Results: Children with CF introduction before 4 months had higher odds of being overweight during childhood than children with CF introduction at or after 4 months (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.19, 1.47). This association was observed in formula-fed infants (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.17, 1.94) and breastfed infants (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.19, 1.47). The duration of breastfeeding modified the association between CF introduction and overweight: children breastfed for shorter than 4 months, but not children breastfed for 4 months or longer with CF introduction before 4 months had higher odds of being overweight (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.19, 1.57 and 1.07, 95% CI 0.87, 1.32, respectively), compared to those with CF introduction at or after 4 months.

Conclusions: In children born at term, formula-fed infants and infants who were breastfed for shorter than 4 months, but not infants who were breastfed for 4 months or longer, had a higher risk of being overweight during childhood when being introduced to CF before 4 months of age.

Keywords: Childhood; Infant feeding; Overweight; Solids.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence of overweight during childhood for introduction of complementary foods before 4 months versus at or after 4 months, stratified by the type of milk feeding
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval for being overweight during childhood for introduction of complementary foods before 4 months versus at or after 4 months, stratified by the type of milk feeding
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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