Influence of breastfeeding on obesity and type 2 diabetes risk factors in

Objective: To determine whether breastfeeding is related to total and regional adiposity, and glucose and insulin dynamics in overweight Latino youth throughout puberty. Research Design: The relations between breastfeeding and diabetes risk were determined in 240 overweight (BMI ≥85 percentile) Latino children (8 to 13 years) with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes. Children were examined at baseline (Tanner pubertal stage 1) and for 2 more years as they advanced in pubertal maturation. Children were divided into the following categories never breastfed (n=102), breastfed 0 to 5.99 months (n=61), breastfed 6 to 11.99 months (n=24) and breastfed ≥ 12 months (n=53). Tanner pubertal stage was determined by physical examination. Visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat were determined by magnetic resonance imagining and total body fat, total lean tissue mass and % body fat were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Fasting and post-challenge glucose were assessed with a 2hour oral glucose tolerance test. Insulin sensitivity (SI), acute insulin response (AIR), and disposition index (DI; an index of β-cell function) were measured by frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test and minimal modeling. Data were analyzed using linear mixed effects (LME) modeling. Results: There were no significant effects of breastfeeding categories on adiposity (i.e., total fat mass, total lean tissue mass, % body fat), fat distribution (visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat), fasting glucose or 2-hour glucose, and insulin dynamics (SI, AIR, and DI), at Tanner pubertal stage 1 or on changes in these variables over pubertal transitions in overweight Latino youth. Conclusions In this population of high-risk Latino youth, there were no significant protective effects of breastfeeding on adiposity or type 2 diabetes risk factors at Tanner pubertal stage 1 or across advances in maturation.