Association of Breastfeeding and Nutritional Status in Children Aged 7-11 Years with High Birth Weight

Nuris Rodriguez Vargas

University of Medical Sciences of Havana, Cuba

Abstract :

Introduction: Obesity, considered as one of the non-communicable chronic diseases, has as its fundamental char­acteristic its increasingly frequent presence globally, affecting more and more developed and developing countries, both sexes, and all ages and social groups.

Objective: To investigate the benefits of breastfeeding in the prevention of excess malnutrition in children from 7 to 11 years of age with high birth weight.

Methods: A descriptive study was carried out with a case - control design in children born between January 1992 and December 1995, in order to identify early risk factors (atherosclerotic accelerators) such as overweight and obesity in children from 7 to 11 years, who have a history of macrosomia or high birth weight.

Results: Through the study, it was found that, in both their distribution and their average ageand sex, in both groups there were no significant statistical differences. While in the average and standard deviation of birth weight if they existed. We also observed the protective effect of breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life on malnutrition due to excess, in addition, the percentage of normal weight was higher than that of malnutrition due to excess.

Conclusions: Breastfeeding is a protector of excess malnutrition (overweight, obesity), independent of birth weight.