Abstract
Objectives: To examine the components of energy balance during lactation in a population of economically disadvantaged women in an urban developing country setting in order to better understand the metabolic response to lactation.
Design. Cross-sectional comparison of lactating (LACT) and non-pregnant non-lactating (NPNL) women. Body size and composition were assessed via anthropometry, energy intake was measured using estimated diet records and energy expenditure using indirect calorimetry and the Flex-Heart Rate method.
Setting: Low-income neighborhoods of Cali, Colombia.
Subjects: Lactating women (n=15) studied at 2.4±0.8, 5.5±0.8 and 8.9±1.2 months postpartum, and NPNL women (n=48) studied in three measurement rounds at 0, 3.5±0.6 and 7.1±1.0 months.
Results: There were no significant differences between LACT and NPNL women in anthropometric dimensions, but LACT women showed decreases in waist–hip ratio, lean body mass and increases in mid-arm circumference and percentage body fat with time. Energy intake was higher in LACT women (P=0.04), but there were no significant between-group differences in energy expenditure variables.
Conclusion: This group of women met the cost of lactation principally via increased energy intake.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by NIH grant 5-R22-DK39734. The authors express their gratitude to Zoila de Maldonado, Betty de Orozco and Jairo Ardila for their excellent technical support and also to Blanca Diaz, Clara Ines Gil Rivas, Mayerling Valencia Castro, Ruth Garcia Ramirez and Yasmin Villota for their invaluable assistance in data collection. We are also grateful to the Secretaria del Deporte y Recreación de Cali for logistical support, to the Instituto Nacional de Nutrición for the proximate analyses of common foods, to the Fundación Arcesio Paz Paz and to the Fundación para La Educación Superior. We thank the women of Agua Blanca for their patience and cooperation.
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Dufour, D., Reina, J. & Spurr, G. Energy intake and expenditure of free-living, lactating Colombian women in an urban setting. Eur J Clin Nutr 56, 205–213 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601302
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601302
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