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American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 86, No. 2, 404-411, August 2007
© 2007 American Society for Nutrition

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION

High prepregnant body mass index is associated with early termination of full and any breastfeeding in Danish women1,2,3

Jennifer L Baker, Kim F Michaelsen, Thorkild IA Sørensen and Kathleen M Rasmussen

1 From the Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (JLB and KMR); the Department of Human Nutrition and Centre for Food Research, Faculty of Life Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark (KFM and KMR); and the Institute of Preventive Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital, Centre for Health and Society, Copenhagen, Denmark (JLB, TIAS, and KMR)

Background: An association between high prepregnant body mass index (BMI) and early termination of breastfeeding has been observed, but this finding may have depended on the sociocultural context.

Objective: The objective was to determine whether this association was stronger with increasing maternal obesity, was modified by gestational weight gain, and still existed when there was greater social support for breastfeeding.

Design: Study participants (37 459 women) were drawn from the Danish National Birth Cohort. The association of prepregnant BMI and gestational weight gain with the termination of full or any breastfeeding by 1, 16, or 20 wk postpartum was assessed with logistic regression analyses, and the risk of early termination of full and any breastfeeding during the first 18 mo postpartum was assessed with Poisson regression analyses.

Results: The risk of early termination of any (with similar results for full) breastfeeding rose progressively with increasing prepregnant BMI values (in kg/m2), from 1.12 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.16) for overweight (BMI = 25.0–29.9) women to 1.39 (95% CI: 1.19, 1.63) for obese class III women (BMI ≥ 40) compared with normal-BMI women. Gestational weight gain did not add to or modify the association between prepregnant BMI and breastfeeding.

Conclusions: These findings extend the observation to a broader range of BMIs that the greater the prepregnant BMI, the earlier the termination of breastfeeding. Together with the fact that this association was evident in a more supportive social context for breastfeeding, these findings suggest a biological basis for the association.

Key Words: Breastfeeding • prepregnancy • body mass index • Danish women • obesity






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