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Associations between exclusive breastfeeding and physical fitness during childhood

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Abstract

Purpose

Exposure to breastfeeding improves the survival, health, and development of children; therefore, breast milk is recommended as the exclusive nutrient source for feeding term infants during the first 6 months. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the possible association between exposure to exclusive breastfeeding and physical fitness performance in children and, if so, whether this association is influenced by the breastfeeding duration.

Methods

A total of 2853 (52.3 % girls) European children from the IDEFICS study aged 6–11 years with complete data on physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, flexibility, balance, speed) and exclusive breastfeeding duration (never, 1–3, 4–6, 7–12 months) were included in the present study. Multivariate and mixed linear regression models were estimated and adjusted for sex, age, birth weight, diet, physical activity, body mass index, and parental factors (age, body mass index, educational attainment).

Results

We found a positive association between exclusive breastfeeding and lower-body explosive strength (β = 0.034) as well as flexibility (β = 0.028). We also found a positive association between breastfeeding and balance in boys (β = 0.039), while this association was negative in girls (β = −0.029). To improve lower-body explosive strength, 1–3 months of exclusive breastfeeding were enough; a longer duration did not lead to increasing benefit. In contrast, 4–6 months of breastfeeding were necessary to have any benefit on flexibility or balance, although this became nonsignificant after adjustment for body mass index and physical activity.

Conclusions

Exclusive breastfeeding seems a natural way of slightly improving some physical fitness components (mainly lower-body muscle strength) and thus future health.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank the parents and children who participated in the study. This work was done as part of the IDEFICS Study (www.idefics.eu). We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the European Community within the Sixth RTD Framework Programme Contract No. 016181 (FOOD). The information in this document reflects the authors’ views and is provided as it is.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 4K3, Ghent, Belgium

    Mahmoud Zaqout, Nathalie Michels & Stefaan De Henauw

  2. Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology BIPS, Bremen, Germany

    Wolfgang Ahrens & Claudia Börnhorst

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Medical Faculty, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

    Dénes Molnár

  4. GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Luis A. Moreno

  5. Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Gabriele Eiben

  6. Epidemiology and Population Genetics, Institute of Food Sciences, National Research Council, Avellino, Italy

    Alfonso Siani

  7. Research and Education Institute of Child Health, Strovolos, Cyprus

    Stalo Papoutsou

  8. Department of Chronic Diseases, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia

    Toomas Veidebaum

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  1. Mahmoud Zaqout
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IDEFICS consortium

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Correspondence to Mahmoud Zaqout.

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Zaqout, M., Michels, N., Ahrens, W. et al. Associations between exclusive breastfeeding and physical fitness during childhood. Eur J Nutr 57, 545–555 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1337-3

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