ABSTRACT
Understanding childhood obesity is of the utmost importance today, given its precipitous, progressive, and persistent upward trajectory starting at a young age. More than 10% of 6-23-month-olds and 20% of 2-5-year-olds are either overweight or obese, with ≈70% remaining so in adulthood [1,2]. Due to the recalcitrant nature of obesity, prevention rather than treatment is key, with breast-feeding identified as a cornerstone of any prevention program. This is supported by the recommendation from a presidential task force of breast-feeding as a strategy to reduce pediatric obesity [3]. Universal breast-feeding is also supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [4], the World Health Organization [5], the American Academy of Pediatrics [6], and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [7], to name just a few. These recommendations reflect findings from seven systematic review/meta-analyses conducted using 81 studies spanning from 1970 to 2010 [5,8-13]. A review performed in 2015 of the best available evidence observed that results from all available meta-analyses indicated a reduction of 12%–24% in the prevalence of overweight/obesity in children who were breast-fed compared with those who were not breast-fed (odds ratios ranging from 0.76 to 0.88) [13]. Further, the American Academy of Pediatrics stated there is a “15%–30% reduction in adolescent and adult obesity rates if breast-feeding occurred during infancy compared with no breast-feeding” [6].
