Early infant feeding practice and childhood obesity: the relation of breast-feeding and timing of solid food introduction with childhood obesity

Objective: We assessed the association of breast-feeding and timing of solid food introduction with childhood obesity. Methods: The children were grouped according to the duration of breast-feeding (0-1, 2-6, 7-12, 13-18, and 19-24 months) and the age at which solid foods were introduced (<4, 4-5, and >= 6 months). Results: In this study, we enrolled 4990 children aged 2-14 years. The rate of exclusive breast-feeding at 6 months of age was 49.1%. We found no association between the duration of breast-feeding and childhood obesity [odds ratio (OR) 0.948, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.694-1.295]. The regression analysis revealed no significant differences in obesity or overweight rates between the early and late introduction to solid food groups (OR 0.993, 95% CI 0.645-1.531). Conclusions: Although breastfeeding has been previously reported to protect against childhood obesity, we were unable to find a significant association between obesity and either longer duration of breastfeeding or later introduction to solid foods in our sample.