Maternal weight status, diet, and supplement use as determinants of breastfeeding and complementary feeding: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

CONTEXT: Infant feeding practices are influenced by maternal factors.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this review is to examine the associations between maternal weight status or dietary characteristics and breastfeeding or complementary feeding.

DATA SOURCES: A systematic literature search of the Embase, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Web of Science databases was performed.

STUDY SELECTION: Interventional and cohort studies in healthy mothers and infants that reported on maternal weight status, diet, or supplement use were selected.

DATA EXTRACTION: Outcomes assessed included delayed onset of lactogenesis; initiation, exclusivity, duration, and cessation of breastfeeding; and timing of complementary feeding.

DATA ANALYSIS: Eighty-one studies were included. Maternal underweight, diet, and supplement use were not associated with infant feeding practices. Obese women had a relative risk of failure to initiate breastfeeding (risk ratio [RR] = 1.23; 95%CI, 1.03-1.47) and a delayed onset of lactogenesis (RR  =  2.06; 95%CI, 1.18-3.61). The RR for breastfeeding cessation was 1.11 (95%CI, 1.07-1.15) per increase in category of body mass index.

CONCLUSIONS

Prevention of obesity in women of reproductive age, as well as counseling of obese women after delivery, could be targeted to improve infant feeding practices.