Kids breastfed longer more likely to be skinny

Kids who get breastfed longer as infants and who have a high-quality weaning diet have a lower body mass index at age 4 than kids not breastfed as long or who are weaned with a lower-quality diet.

That’s the conclusion of researchers from the University of Southampton, who looked at the circumstances of weaning in more than 500 children and looked at their bones for changes in body composition. Kids who were breastfed longer had lower fat mass compared to other kids, independent of their height.

Researchers said length of time breastfeeding wasn’t the only important issue, though: kids who got a better diet when weaned, such as more fruits, vegetables and foods prepared at home, also had a lower body mass at age 4.

Source: CalorieLab