Babies born to obese mothers and exclusively breastfed would weigh less at 6 months than those fed milk powder.
A study has once again proven the benefits of breast milk on children’s health. This time the study focused on observing the links between breast milk and obesity, and suggests that obese mothers breastfeeding their babies may reduce their risk of becoming obese later.
Children born to obese mothers show statistically a significantly higher birth weight than those born to women of normal weight, and would face an increased risk of obesity later in childhood, or in adulthood.
Researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Granada (Spain) therefore sought to find out whether breast milk could have a protective effect on children’s weight. To do this, they looked at the growth (in the first two years of their lives) of babies delivered by 175 obese, normal-weight women. The babies were then divided into three groups, depending on how they were fed for the first 3 months (only breast, powdered milk, or both) and then rated at 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. according to criteria defined by the World Health Organization.
Significant weight differences at 6 months
Results: Babies born to obese mothers and exclusively breastfed weighed less at 6 months than those fed milk powder. In addition, the weight of these breastfed babies corresponded to a normal BMI for their build. Their weight was even lower than that of babies fed milk (breast milk or powdered) and whose mothers had a normal weight.
The researchers also discovered that while the weight differences were significant at 6 months, they were no longer noticeable at 2 years. According to scientists, this confirms a real improvement and a ‘change of direction’ in the growth of infants who are breastfed by obese mothers. For the researchers, these results suggest the presence in breast milk of a mechanism capable of protecting against the potentially negative effects of maternal obesity. It could therefore improve the health of a baby who has undergone metabolic alterations during development.
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