Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 years
Background Breastfeeding is a cornerstone of child health. We investigated the associations of any breastfeeding initiation and duration with physical, mental and behavioural health conditions among children aged 3–5 years in the USA.Methods Data were derived from the 2016 to 2022 National Survey of...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMJ Publishing Group
|
| Series: | BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health |
| Online Access: | https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/early/2025/07/02/bmjnph-2025-001175.full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849426726614990848 |
|---|---|
| author | Xin Wang Lei Shi Li Cai Li-Zi Lin Qiang Feng Ning Pan Kang-You Li Sai-Jun Huang Yingqian Chen An-Qi Ren Xu-Chu Weng |
| author_facet | Xin Wang Lei Shi Li Cai Li-Zi Lin Qiang Feng Ning Pan Kang-You Li Sai-Jun Huang Yingqian Chen An-Qi Ren Xu-Chu Weng |
| author_sort | Xin Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Breastfeeding is a cornerstone of child health. We investigated the associations of any breastfeeding initiation and duration with physical, mental and behavioural health conditions among children aged 3–5 years in the USA.Methods Data were derived from the 2016 to 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health, which is a national, population-based, cross-sectional study. A total of 40 280 children aged 3–5 years were included. Any breastfeeding initiation and duration, physical (asthma, allergies, arthritis, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy or seizure disorder, heart conditions or severe headaches), mental (anxiety or depression) and behavioural (Tourette syndrome, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or behavioural/conduct problems) health conditions were measured using parent-reported questionnaires.Results Any breastfeeding was significantly associated with lower odds of behavioural health conditions (OR=0.76, 95% CI: 0.58 to 0.99) and marginally with mental health conditions (OR=0.70, 95% CI: 0.48 to 1.02, p=0.067). There was a significant non-linear trend between any breastfeeding duration and having a mental or behavioural health condition (all Pnon-linear<0.001). The intervals of significant associations were 7.3–23.4 months for mental condition and 6.8–24.1 months for behavioural condition (the most associated points at 15.6 and 15.3 months). There were no significant associations of any breastfeeding initiation and duration with physical health.Conclusions Any breastfeeding was linked to better behavioural health and marginally to mental health, with no association found for physical health among children aged 3–5 years in the USA. Any breastfeeding duration of approximately 15 months appears to have the strongest association with promoting children’s mental and behavioural health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aa6cb62d7d64469eb3dce88d1bfc5ef0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2516-5542 |
| language | English |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-aa6cb62d7d64469eb3dce88d1bfc5ef02025-08-20T03:29:17ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health2516-554210.1136/bmjnph-2025-001175Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 yearsXin Wang0Lei Shi1Li Cai2Li-Zi Lin3Qiang Feng4Ning Pan5Kang-You Li6Sai-Jun Huang7Yingqian Chen8An-Qi Ren9Xu-Chu Weng10Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaJNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Sixth People`s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, ChinaJoint International Research Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Environmental Pollution and Health Risk Assessment, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Fitness Surveillance Centre, China Institute of Sport Science, Beijing, ChinaJiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education; Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Child Healthcare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, Foshan, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Radiology, Sun Yat-sen University First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, ChinaKey Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education; Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, ChinaKey Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education; Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, ChinaBackground Breastfeeding is a cornerstone of child health. We investigated the associations of any breastfeeding initiation and duration with physical, mental and behavioural health conditions among children aged 3–5 years in the USA.Methods Data were derived from the 2016 to 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health, which is a national, population-based, cross-sectional study. A total of 40 280 children aged 3–5 years were included. Any breastfeeding initiation and duration, physical (asthma, allergies, arthritis, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy or seizure disorder, heart conditions or severe headaches), mental (anxiety or depression) and behavioural (Tourette syndrome, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or behavioural/conduct problems) health conditions were measured using parent-reported questionnaires.Results Any breastfeeding was significantly associated with lower odds of behavioural health conditions (OR=0.76, 95% CI: 0.58 to 0.99) and marginally with mental health conditions (OR=0.70, 95% CI: 0.48 to 1.02, p=0.067). There was a significant non-linear trend between any breastfeeding duration and having a mental or behavioural health condition (all Pnon-linear<0.001). The intervals of significant associations were 7.3–23.4 months for mental condition and 6.8–24.1 months for behavioural condition (the most associated points at 15.6 and 15.3 months). There were no significant associations of any breastfeeding initiation and duration with physical health.Conclusions Any breastfeeding was linked to better behavioural health and marginally to mental health, with no association found for physical health among children aged 3–5 years in the USA. Any breastfeeding duration of approximately 15 months appears to have the strongest association with promoting children’s mental and behavioural health.https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/early/2025/07/02/bmjnph-2025-001175.full |
| spellingShingle | Xin Wang Lei Shi Li Cai Li-Zi Lin Qiang Feng Ning Pan Kang-You Li Sai-Jun Huang Yingqian Chen An-Qi Ren Xu-Chu Weng Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 years BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health |
| title | Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 years |
| title_full | Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 years |
| title_fullStr | Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 years |
| title_short | Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 years |
| title_sort | breastfeeding initiation and duration links to physical mental and behavioural health in us children aged 3 5 years |
| url | https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/early/2025/07/02/bmjnph-2025-001175.full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xinwang breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT leishi breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT licai breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT lizilin breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT qiangfeng breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT ningpan breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT kangyouli breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT saijunhuang breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT yingqianchen breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT anqiren breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years AT xuchuweng breastfeedinginitiationanddurationlinkstophysicalmentalandbehaviouralhealthinuschildrenaged35years |