Breastfeeding

The increasing frequency of childhood obesity is a serious public health concern. Today it is recognized that the infant feeding during critical periods of early human development ("the first 1000 days") can be a long-term impact for future health. Authors deal with with the infant period of the first 1000 days of life starting from the conception, based on literature review. Since 2010 a large number of publications have appeared in which the relationship between infant feeding, early weight gain and later obesity are investigated. The majority of studies have demonstrated, that breastfeeding has a marked effect on early growth and reduces the risk of obesity in the long-term. The health benefits of breastfeeding over infant formula feeding are accepted, however, the relationship between infant feeding and later obesity, there is no clear consensus in the literature. The authors investigated this contradiction reviewing the newly published articles over the last few years. In summary they established, that duration of breastfeeding for at least 4 months have an important role in lowering of childhood adiposity risk. The different or ambiguous statements in the relevant publications can be explained by the fact that the development and the prevention of obesity are multifactorial. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(24): 938-943.