Skip to main content
Log in

The effect of early feeding practices on growth indices and obesity at preschool children from four European countries and UK schoolchildren and adolescents

  • Original Article
  • Published:
European Journal of Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Not only healthy growth but also childhood obesity partly originate from early life. The current work aimed to examine the association of feeding practices during infancy with growth and adiposity indices in preschool children from four European countries and in UK schoolchildren and adolescents. Existing data from four European birth cohorts (ALSPAC-UK, EDEN-France, EuroPrevall-Greece and Generation XXI-Portugal) were used. Anthropometrics and body composition indices were collected. Parallel multivariate regression analyses were performed to examine the research hypothesis. Overall, the analyses showed that breastfeeding and timing of complementary feeding were not consistently associated with height z-score, overweight/obesity, and body fat mass in children or adolescents. However, breastfeeding duration for less than 6 months was associated with lower height z-scores in 5-year-old French children (P < 0.001) but with higher height z-scores in 4-year-old UK children (P = 0.006). Furthermore, introduction of complementary foods earlier than 4 months of age was positively associated with fat mass levels in 5-year-old French children (P = 0.026).

Conclusion: Early feeding practices, i.e., any breastfeeding duration and age of introduction of complementary foods, do not appear to be consistently associated with height z-score, overweight/obesity, and body fat mass in preschool children from four European countries and in UK schoolchildren and adolescents.

What is known?

Healthy growth and childhood obesity partly originate from early life.

What is new?

Breastfeeding duration less than 6 months was associated with lower height z-scores in 5-year-old French children, while the opposite was observed in 4-year-old British children.

Introduction of complementary foods earlier than 4 months was positively associated with fat mass levels in 5-year-old French children, but not in the other three countries.

Early feeding practices did not appear to be consistently associated with growth and adiposity indices, and as such, no clear influence can be observed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ALSPAC:

Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

BIA:

Bioelectrical impedance analysis

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

DXA:

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

EDEN:

Etude des Déterminants pré et post natals de la santé et du développement de l’ENfant

FFQ:

Food-frequency questionnaire

HPVS:

Healthy Plate Variety Score

SD:

Standard deviation

References

  1. Budge H, Sebert S, Sharkey D, Symonds ME (2009) Session on ‘Obesity’. Adipose tissue development, nutrition in early life and its impact on later obesity. Proc Nutr Soc 68(3):321–326

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Butte NF (2009) Impact of infant feeding practices on childhood obesity. J Nutr 139(2):412S–416S

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH (2000) Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ 320(7244):1240–1243

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Cope MB, Allison DB (2008) Critical review of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2007 report on ‘evidence of the long-term effects of breastfeeding: systematic reviews and meta-analysis’ with respect to obesity. Obes Rev 9(6):594–605

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Corvalan C, Kain J, Weisstaub G, Uauy R (2009) Impact of growth patterns and early diet on obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in young children from developing countries. Proc Nutr Soc 68(3):327–337

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Cox DR, Skinner JD, Carruth BR, Moran J 3rd, Houck KS (1997) A Food Variety Index for Toddlers (VIT): development and application. J Am Diet Assoc 97(12):1382–1386 quiz 1387-8

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. de Lauzon-Guillain B, Jones L, Oliveira A, Moschonis G, Betoko A, Lopes C, Moreira P, Manios Y, Papadopoulos NG, Emmett P, Charles MA (2013) The influence of early feeding practices on fruit and vegetable intake among preschool children in 4 European birth cohorts. Am J Clin Nutr 98(3):804–812

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Durmus B, van Rossem L, Duijts L, Arends LR, Raat H, Moll HA, Hofman A, Steegers EA, Jaddoe VW (2011) Breast-feeding and growth in children until the age of 3 years: the Generation R Study. Br J Nutr 105(11):1704–1711

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hales CN, Barker DJ (2001) The thrifty phenotype hypothesis. Br Med Bull 60:5–20

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Heude B, Forhan A, Slama R, Douhaud L, Bedel S, Saurel-Cubizolles MJ, Hankard R, Thiebaugeorges O, De Agostini M, Annesi-Maesano I, Kaminski M, Charles MA (2016) Cohort profile: the EDEN mother-child cohort on the prenatal and early postnatal determinants of child health and development. Int J Epidemiol 45(2):353–363

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Hornell A, Lagstrom H, Lande B, Thorsdottir I (2013) Breastfeeding, introduction of other foods and effects on health: a systematic literature review for the 5th Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. Food Nutr Res 57

  12. Ip S, Chung M, Raman G, Chew P, Magula N, DeVine D, Trikalinos T, Lau J (2007) Breastfeeding and maternal and infant health outcomes in developed countries. Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) 153:1–186

    Google Scholar 

  13. Kramer MS, Matush L, Vanilovich I, Platt RW, Bogdanovich N, Sevkovskaya Z, Dzikovich I, Shishko G, Collet JP, Martin RM, Davey Smith G, Gillman MW, Chalmers B, Hodnett E, Shapiro S et al (2007) Effects of prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding on child height, weight, adiposity, and blood pressure at age 6.5 y: evidence from a large randomized trial. Am J Clin Nutr 86(6):1717–1721

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Lamb MM, Dabelea D, Yin X, Ogden LG, Klingensmith GJ, Rewers M, Norris JM (2010) Early-life predictors of higher body mass index in healthy children. Ann Nutr Metab 56(1):16–22

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Larsen PS, Kamper-Jorgensen M, Adamson A, Barros H, Bonde JP, Brescianini S, Brophy S, Casas M, Charles MA, Devereux G, Eggesbo M, Fantini MP, Frey U, Gehring U, Grazuleviciene R et al (2013) Pregnancy and birth cohort resources in Europe: a large opportunity for aetiological child health research. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 27(4):393–414

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Lioret S, Touvier M, Dubuisson C, Dufour A, Calamassi-Tran G, Lafay L, Volatier JL, Maire B (2009) Trends in child overweight rates and energy intake in France from 1999 to 2007: relationships with socioeconomic status. Obesity (Silver Spring) 17(5):1092–1100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lucas A (1994) Role of nutritional programming in determining adult morbidity. Arch Dis Child 71(4):288–290

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Lucas A (1998) Programming by early nutrition: an experimental approach. J Nutr 128(2 Suppl):401S–406S

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Manios Y, Moschonis G, Grammatikaki E, Anastasiadou A, Liarigkovinos T (2010) Determinants of childhood obesity and association with maternal perceptions of their children's weight status: the “GENESIS” study. J Am Diet Assoc 110(10):1527–1531

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. McBride D, Keil T, Grabenhenrich L, Dubakiene R, Drasutiene G, Fiocchi A, Dahdah L, Sprikkelman AB, Schoemaker AA, Roberts G, Grimshaw K, Kowalski ML, Stanczyk-Przyluska A, Sigurdardottir S, Clausen M et al (2012) The EuroPrevall birth cohort study on food allergy: baseline characteristics of 12,000 newborns and their families from nine European countries. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 23(3):230–239

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Monasta L, Batty GD, Cattaneo A, Lutje V, Ronfani L, Van Lenthe FJ, Brug J (2010) Early-life determinants of overweight and obesity: a review of systematic reviews. Obes Rev 11(10):695–708

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Moorcroft KE, Marshall JL, McCormick FM (2011) Association between timing of introducing solid foods and obesity in infancy and childhood: a systematic review. Matern Child Nutr 7(1):3–26

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Moschonis G, Grammatikaki E, Manios Y (2008) Perinatal predictors of overweight at infancy and preschool childhood: the GENESIS study. Int J Obes 32(1):39–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Novaes JF, Lamounier JA, Colosimo EA, Franceschini SC, Priore SE (2012) Breastfeeding and obesity in Brazilian children. Eur J Pub Health 22(3):383–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Pearce J, Taylor MA, Langley-Evans SC (2013) Timing of the introduction of complementary feeding and risk of childhood obesity: a systematic review. Int J Obes 37(10):1295–1306

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Schaefer F, Georgi M, Zieger A, Scharer K (1994) Usefulness of bioelectric impedance and skinfold measurements in predicting fat-free mass derived from total body potassium in children. Pediatr Res 35(5):617–624

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Symonds ME, Mendez MA, Meltzer HM, Koletzko B, Godfrey K, Forsyth S, van der Beek EM (2013) Early life nutritional programming of obesity: mother-child cohort studies. Ann Nutr Metab 62(2):137–145

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Weng SF, Redsell SA, Swift JA, Yang M, Glazebrook CP (2012) Systematic review and meta-analyses of risk factors for childhood overweight identifiable during infancy. Arch Dis Child 97(12):1019–1026

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Sylvie Issanchou for her coordination of the HabEat project. We are indebted to all participants for providing the data used in the four birth cohorts, as well as to all members of the research team and coordinators (Nikos Papadopoulos from EuroPrevall, Henrique Barros from Generation XXI, George Davey Smith from ALSPAC, and Barbara Heude from the EDEN mother-child Study Group).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Study concept and design: GM, BLG, LJ, AO, PM, CL, PE, MAC, YM. Acquisition of data: GM, BLG, LJ, AO, LD, PM, CL, PE, MAC, YM. Analysis and interpretation of data: GM, BLG, LJ, AO, CPL, PM, CL, PE, MAC, YM. Drafting of the manuscript: GM. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: GM, BLG, LJ, AO, SL, PM, CL, PE, MAC, YM. Final approval of the version to be published: All authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yannis Manios.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki, and all procedures involving human subjects were approved by each institute’s ethics committee.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained for all subjects included in the study.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors has any potential conflict of interest to declare.

Source of funding

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007–2013) under the grant agreement no. FP7–245012-HabEat. ALSPAC was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and the University of Bristol provided core support for ALSPAC. The EuroPrevall study was funded by the EU through FP6-FOOD-CT-2005-514000. Generation XXI was funded by Programa Operacional de Saúde – Saúde XXI, Quadro Comunitário de Apoio III, and by Administração Regional de Saúde Norte. For follow-up assessments, Generation XXI received funding from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, co-funded by FEDER through COMPETE and from Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. Support for the EDEN study (Étude des Déterminants pré- et postnatals précoces du développement et de la santé de l’ENfant) was provided by the following organizations: Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, French Ministry of Research Institut Fédératif de Recherche and Cohort Program, INSERM Nutrition Research Program, French Ministry of Health Perinatal Program, French Agency for Environment Security (AFFSET), French National Institute for Population Health Surveillance (INVS), Paris-Sud University, French National Institute for Health Education (INPES), Nestlé, Mutuelle Générale de l’Éducation Nationale, French Speaking Association for the Study of Diabetes and Metabolism (Alfediam), National Agency for Research (ANR nonthematic program), and National Institute for Research in Public Health (IRESP TGIR Cohorte Santé 2008 Program). The study sponsors were not involved in the study design, data collection, or data analyses.

Additional information

Communicated by Mario Bianchetti

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Moschonis, G., de Lauzon-Guillain, B., Jones, L. et al. The effect of early feeding practices on growth indices and obesity at preschool children from four European countries and UK schoolchildren and adolescents. Eur J Pediatr 176, 1181–1192 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-017-2961-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-017-2961-5

Keywords

Navigation