JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effects of promoting longer-term and exclusive breastfeeding on adiposity and insulin-like growth factor-I at age 11.5 years: a randomized trial.
Evidence that longer-term and exclusive breastfeeding reduces child obesity risk is based on observational studies that are prone to confounding. ⋯ AND RELEVANCE Among healthy term infants in Belarus, an intervention that succeeded in improving the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding did not prevent overweight or obesity, nor did it affect IGF-I levels at age 11.5 years. Breastfeeding has many advantages but population strategies to increase the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding are unlikely to curb the obesity epidemic.