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Infant feeding practices associated with adiposity peak and rebound in the EDEN mother–child cohort

International Journal of Obesity volume 46, pages 809–816 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objective

High magnitude of adiposity peak and early adiposity rebound are early risk markers of later obesity. Infant diet represents one of the main modifiable determinants of early growth. This study aimed to investigate the association between infant feeding practices and age and magnitude of adiposity peak and rebound.

Subjects/Methods

Analyses were based on data from the French EDEN mother–child cohort. Data on breastfeeding and complementary feeding were collected at birth and 4, 8, and 12 months. From clinical examinations and measurements collected in the child’s health booklet up to 12 years, individual growth curves were modeled, and ages and magnitudes of adiposity peak and rebound were estimated. Associations between infant feeding practices and growth were investigated by multivariable linear regression in children after testing a child-sex interaction.

Results

In the studied population (n = 1225), adiposity peak occurred at a mean of 9.9 ± 2 months and adiposity rebound at 5.5 ± 1.4 years. Associations between infant feeding practices and adiposity peak or rebound were moderated by child sex. For girls, each additional month of breastfeeding was related to a 2-day increase in the age at adiposity peak (p < 0.001), and an 18-day increase in the age at adiposity peak (p = 0.004). Whereas for boys, each additional month for the age at complementary food introduction was associated with a 29-day increase in the age at adiposity rebound (p = 0.02). For boys, long breastfeeding duration was only related to reduced body mass index at adiposity peak.

Conclusions

Child sex has a moderating effect on the association between infant feeding practices and adiposity peak or rebound. The well-known association between breastfeeding duration and early growth seems stronger in girls than boys. The association found for complementary feeding in boys may give new insights into preventing obesity.

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Fig. 1: Flow chart.

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Acknowledgements

Members of the EDEN Mother–Child Cohort Study Group I AnnesiMaesano, JY Bernard, J Botton, MA Charles, P Dargent-Molina, B de Lauzon-Guillain, P Ducimetière, M de Agostini, B Foliguet, A Forhan, X Fritel, A Germa, V Goua, R Hankard, B Heude, M Kaminski, B Larroque†, N Lelong, J Lepeule, G Magnin, L Marchand, C Nabet, F Pierre, R Slama, MJ Saurel-Cubizolles, M Schweitzer and O Thiebaugeorges.

Funding

The EDEN study is supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM), French Ministry of Research: Federative Research Institutes and Cohort Program, INSERM Human Nutrition National Research Program, and Diabetes National Research Program (by a collaboration with the French Association of Diabetic Patients [AFD]), French Ministry of Health, French Agency for Environment Security (AFSSET), French National Institute for Population Health Surveillance (InVS), Paris‐Sud University, French National Institute for Health Education (INPES), Nestlé, Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale (MGEN), French‐speaking Association for the Study of Diabetes and Metabolism (ALFEDIAM), National Agency for Research (ANR non‐thematic programme), and National Institute for Research in Public Health (IRESP: TGIR 2008 cohort in health programme). The study was funded by an ANR grant (InfaDiet project, grant no.: ANR-19-CE36-0008). This research benefited from the assistance of the funding partners of the IReSP within the framework of the 2016 General call for projects—Prevention topic (HEUDE-AAP16-PREV-24). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Paris, INSERM, INRAE, CRESS, F-75004, Paris, France

    Aurore Camier, Aminata H. Cissé, Sandrine Lioret, Jonathan Y. Bernard, Marie Aline Charles, Barbara Heude & Blandine de Lauzon-Guillain

  2. Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore

    Jonathan Y. Bernard

  3. Unité mixte Inserm-Ined-EFS ELFE, Ined, F-75020, Paris, France

    Marie Aline Charles

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  1. Aurore Camier
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  2. Aminata H. Cissé
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  3. Sandrine Lioret
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  4. Jonathan Y. Bernard
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  6. Barbara Heude
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  7. Blandine de Lauzon-Guillain
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Contributions

AC: conceptualization, formal analysis, writing-original draft. AHC: formal analysis, writing—review and editing. SL: writing—review and editing, funding acquisition. JYB: writing—review and editing, funding acquisition. MAC: writing—review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition. BH: writing—review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition, project administration. BLG: writing—review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition, project administration, validation.

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Correspondence to Blandine de Lauzon-Guillain.

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Camier, A., Cissé, A.H., Lioret, S. et al. Infant feeding practices associated with adiposity peak and rebound in the EDEN mother–child cohort. Int J Obes 46, 809–816 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-01059-y

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