Breastfeeding and Obesity - Essay Example

The case research study to be summarised was retrieved from the MEDLINE database using search words “breastfeeding” “obesity” “overweight” “formula” and “nursing.” It is a quantitative study on obesity with data obtained from breastfeeding mothers. The participants were studied for a period of 12 years.

Breastfeeding has been found to be beneficial to the baby in preventing viral and bacterial infections and many other infections. It is recommended to breastfeed for the first year of an infant’s life. In this study, Michels et al. (2007) investigated 35,526 mothers who were mailed questionnaires between 1989 and 2001 who would give the shape of bodies of the study infants at 5 and 10 and their weights at 18 in relation to their heights. According to these researchers, a body mass index, BMI of 25kg/m2 or greater is proven of overweight while that of 30kg/m2 is proven of obese. Those breastfed for at least six months had a 0.94 probability of obesity. Such infants would have leaner bodies at 5 as opposed to those breastfed for less than a week. This association was inconsistent in adolescence and adulthood. Therefore, this study found that breastfed women were leaner than formula-fed women in their early years but the results were inconsistent in adulthood. Childhood obesity increases the risk of obesity in adulthood hence the direct correlation with breastfeeding. Breastfeeding for the recommended period should hence be observed.