Linking Breastfeeding Promotion with the Fight Against Early Childhood Obesity at the Local Level

Childhood obesity is a concern for cities in the US. African American and Hispanic youths are the most at risk for the development of childhood obesity. Substantial research evidence shows that diet as early as infancy can have lifelong implications for obesity risk. Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the risk for development of childhood obesity. African American women and Hispanic women have the lowest rates of “any breastfeeding” and “exclusive breastfeeding” compared to whites, which may be an important opportunity for preventing childhood obesity. We conducted a record review of a local health department's postpartum patients' breastfeeding practices, where the rate of childhood obesity is 37%, among children 2-5 years old. Data was collected from patient records; it was analyzed to determine self reported rates of “any breastfeeding” and “exclusive breastfeeding”. Rates of “any breastfeeding” declined more than 20% among African American mothers, and more than 15% among Hispanic mothers; compared to the of rates of “any breastfeeding”, in these groups, at the time of leaving the hospital. This indicates the need for breastfeeding interventions in the first weeks after leaving the hospital especially among these women. As a response to the data/information generated the Health Department is launching a multifaceted breastfeeding promotion campaign and intervention to address this need in their community. Though the data indicate a reduction in rates of breastfeeding our findings must be approached with caution due to some inconsistencies in the initial gathering of the secondary data used.