Abstract
It is well documented that socioeconomic status, education, race/ethnicity and social support are determinants of which women attempt to breastfeed their newborn infants.1 Although poor nutrition may compromise lactational performance,2 evidence has only recently emerged that overnutrition may also compromise lactation. Investigators in Australia3 studied women who had breastfed their infants for at least 2 wk and observed that those with a body mass index (BMI) value > 26 kg/m2 at 1 mo postpartum had 1.5 times the risk of early cessation of breastfeeding (BF) compared to those whose BMI was below this value. These findings are of particular concern because a high proportion of women have BMI values this high so soon after delivery. In addition, the proportion of women with higher BMI values is likely to grow with the increasing rates of obesity that have been observed in American women.4
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Institute of Medicine (Subcommittee on Nutrition during Lactation, Committee on Nutritional Status During Pregnancy and Lactation, Food and Nutrition Board). Nutrition during Lactation (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1991).
M. Rasmussen. The influence of maternal nutrition on lactation. Annu. Rev. Nutr. 12:103–117 (1992).
H.E. Rutishauser and J.B. Carlin. Body mass index and duration of breast feeding: a survival analysis during the first six months of life. J. Epidemol. Comm. Health 46:559–565 (1992).
A. Galuska, M.K. Serdula, E. Pamuk,.P.S. Siegel, and T. Byers. Trends in overweight among US adults from 1987 to 1993: a multistate telephone survey. Am. J. Public Health 86:1729–1735 (1996).
A. Shaw, K.M. Rasmussen, and T.R. Myers. Consumption of a high-fat diet impairs reproductive performance in Sprague-Dawley rats. J. Nutr. 127:64–69 (1997).
M. Rasmussen, M.H. Wallace, and E. Gournis. A low-fat diet but not food restriction improves lactational performance in obese rats. in: Bioactive Substances in Human Milk, edited by D.S. Newberg (Plenum Press, New York, 2000), in press.
A. Hilson, K.M. Rasmussen, and C.L. Kjolhede. Maternal obesity and breastfeeding success in a rural population of Caucasian women. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 66:1371–1378 (1997).
Institute of Medicine (Subcommittees on Nutritional Status and Weight Gain During Pregnancy and Dietary Intake and Nutrient Supplements During Pregnancy, Committee on Nutritional Status During Pregnancy and Lactation, Food and Nutrition Board). Nutrition During Pregnancy: Part I, Weight Gain; Part II, Nutrient Supplements (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1990).
C. Mulford. The mother-baby assessment (MBA): An “Apgar Score” for breastfeeding. J. Hum. Lact. 8:79–82 (1992).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rasmussen, K.M., Hilson, J.A., Kjolhede, C.L. (2002). Obesity as a Risk Factor for Failure to Initiate and Sustain Lactation. In: Davis, M.K., Isaacs, C.E., Hanson, L.Å., Wright, A.L. (eds) Integrating Population Outcomes, Biological Mechanisms and Research Methods in the Study of Human Milk and Lactation. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 503. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0559-4_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0559-4_25
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5132-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0559-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive