Does breastfeeding duration decrease child obesity? An instrumental variables analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many studies have documented that breastfeeding is associated with a significant reduction in child obesity risk. However, a persistent problem in this literature is that unobservable confounders may drive the correlations between breastfeeding behaviors and child weight outcomes.

Objective

This study examines the effect of breastfeeding practices on child weight outcomes at age 2.

Methods

This study relied on population-based data for all births in Oregon in 2009 followed for two years. We used instrumental variables methods to exploit variations in breastfeeding by mothers immediately after delivery and the degree to which hospitals encouraged mothers to breastfeed in order to isolate the effect of breastfeeding practices on child weight outcomes.

Resu

SUBMITTER: Modrek S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6588354 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature