Maternal overweight impacts infant feeding patterns--the STEPS Study.

OBJECTIVES: We examined how maternal overweight impacts full breastfeeding (BF), total duration of BF and the age of introduction of complementary foods (CFs) and whether these have effect on children's growth from 0 to 2 years. SUBJECTS/METHODS: From 1797 families participating in the STEPS Study, 848 children had data on BF and anthropometric data at 13 months and 2 years of age and were included in this study. Data on BF and CFs were collected using a self-administered follow-up diary. Information regarding maternal weight, height, pregnancy and delivery were received from maternity clinics and the National Longitudinal Census Files. The children's weight and length/height were recorded during the study visits at 13 months and 2 years. RESULTS: Overweight women breastfed fully (2.2 vs 2.8 months, P<0.0001) and totally (7.4 vs 9.0 months, P<0.0001) for a shorter time and introduced CFs earlier (4.1 vs 4.3 months, P=0.02) than normal weight women. Children of overweight women were heavier and had a higher body mass index at 2 years than children of normal weight women. At 2 years of age 30% of boys and 17% of girls were overweight or obese. However, children's obesity risk was not increased by maternal overweight (odds ratio (OR) 1.04, P=0.12). Longer duration of full BF (OR 0.86, P=0.04) and partial BF (OR 0.91, P=0.02) and delayed introduction of CFs (OR 0.69, P=0.03) were protective against obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that women who were overweight or obese before pregnancy breastfed for a shorter time and introduced CFs earlier than normal weight women, which may further impact children's growth.

Berry meals and risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is commonly associated with obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes, and can thus be regarded as the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. In this study we compared the effects of lifestyle intervention with and without industrial berry products, on risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome on slightly overweight women. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Sixty-one female volunteers (average age 42.9 years) were recruited and randomized for a 20-week dietary intervention trial with two parallel treatment groups, one lifestyle intervention group with berry products equaling with an average daily dose of 163 g of northern berries (berry group, diet 1, N=31, of which 28 completed the study) and the other group with lifestyle intervention only (control group, diet 2, N=30, of which 22 completed the study). RESULTS: Increased berry consumption as part of the normal daily diet was the only lifestyle difference between the two intervention groups. The major effects achieved by diet 1 were changes in the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) and adiponectin (at P-values <0.001 and 0.002, respectively). A statistically significant difference between the two intervention groups was the higher decrease in the ALAT value in the berry group (P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The 23% decrease in the ALAT value, from 20.29 to 15.66 U/l in the berry group may be regarded as nutritionally significant by enhancing the liver function. This may contribute positively to the low-grade systemic inflammation in body and decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases.