Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Paper
  • Published:

Prospective assessment of exclusive breastfeeding in relation to weight change in women

International Journal of Obesity volume 27, pages 815–820 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To study prospectively the relation of parity, prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), and exclusive breastfeeding to weight gain.

DESIGN: The cohort of the Nurse's Health Study II, with analysis restricted to women who were aged 24 to 40?y at baseline (1989), who had a history of no more than one past full-term pregnancy at baseline, gave birth to one child between 1990 and 1991, but had no other pregnancies during the follow-up.

SUBJECTS: 1538 of the 33?082 nulliparous women and 2810 of the 20?261 primiparous, in 1989.

MEASUREMENTS: Introduction of daily formula/milk was assumed to represent the end of exclusive breastfeeding period. Duration of exclusive breastfeeding was categorized into 0, 1–3, 4–7, 8–11, and 12 months or more.

RESULTS: After adjusting for age, physical activity, and BMI in 1989, lactation was associated with a weight gain from 1989 to 1993 of approximately 1?kg (statistically significant only for women nulliparous in 1989 with a BMI <25?kg/m2 (P=0.02) and for those women primiparous in 1989, with a BMI ≥25?kg/m2 (P=0.04)) comparing women who breastfed with women who did not, and duration of lactation was unrelated to the magnitude of weight change (P>0.40 for all comparisons).

CONCLUSIONS: Although promotion of breastfeeding has high priority because of its enormous advantages for a newborn child, the associated maternal weight reduction is minimal. Dietary guidelines for pregnant and breastfeeding women should include ways to prevent weight retention after parity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Butte NF, Hopkinson JM . Body composition changes during lactation are highly variable among women. J Nutr 1998; 128 (Suppl): 381S–385S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Poppitt SD, Prentice AM, Jequier E, Schutz Y, Whitehead RG . Evidence of energy sparing in Gambian women during pregnancy: a longitudinal study using whole-body calorimetry. Am J Clin Nutr 1993; 57: 353–364.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Vernon RG . Endocrine control of metabolic adaptation during lactation. Proc Nutr Soc 1989; 48: 23–32.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gunderson EP, Abrams B . Epidemiology of gestational weight gain and body weight changes after pregnancy. Epidemiol Rev 2000; 22: 261–274.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Coitinho DC, Sichieri R, D'Aquino Benício ME . Weight change related to parity and breastfeeding among Brazilian women. Nutr Public Health 2001; 4: 865–870.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Field AE, Byers T, Hunter DJ, Laird NM, Manson JE, Williamson DF, Willett WC, Colditz GA . Weight cycling, weight gain, and risk of hypertension in women. Am J Epidemiol 1999; 150: 573–579.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. SAS Institute Inc. Selected SAS documentation for Bio 226ab: applied longitudinal data analysis, 3rd edn. SAS Institute Inc.: Cary, NC; 2000.

  8. Dorea JG . Changes in body weight and adiposity during lactation. Nutr Res 1997; 17: 379–389.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Janney CA, Zhang D, Sowers M . Lactation and weight retention. Am J Clin Nutr 1997; 66: 1116–1124.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Schubring C, Blum WF, Kratzsch J, Deutscher J, Kiess W . Leptin, the ob gene product, in female health and disease. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2000; 88: 121–127.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Pickavance L, Tadayyon M, Williams G, Vernon RG . Lactation suppresses diurnal rhythm of serum leptin. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1998; 248: 196–199.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Butte NF, Hopkinson JM, Nicolson MA . Leptin in human reproduction: serum leptin levels in pregnant and lactating women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997; 82: 585–589.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Catalano PM . Pregnancy and lactation in relation to range of acceptable carbohydrate and fat intake. Eur J Clin Nutr 1999; 53 (Suppl 1): S124–S131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Geary N . Estradiol and appetite. Appetite 2000; 35: 273–274.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Supported by Fundação CAPES-Coordenação de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior and Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center (DK 46200).

We thank Susan Malspeis and Karen Corsano for data management and Dianna Feskanich for support with data analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Medicina Social, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    R Sichieri

  2. Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    A E Field & W C Willett

  3. Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Boston, MA, USA

    J Rich-Edwards

  4. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Kresge 617, Boston, MA, USA

    W C Willett

Authors
  1. R Sichieri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A E Field
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J Rich-Edwards
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. W C Willett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R Sichieri.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sichieri, R., Field, A., Rich-Edwards, J. et al. Prospective assessment of exclusive breastfeeding in relation to weight change in women. Int J Obes 27, 815–820 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802285

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802285

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links