The Relationship between Duration of Breastfeeding and Mother’s BMI

Background & Objective: Breast feeding is the only food created exclusively for human, and its ingredients are according to the needs of the infant's body and it provides the most appropriate growth conditions. Mother's BMI is one of the most important factors in duration of lactation. Few studies have yielded conflicting results in this field. The present inquiry set to determine the relation between maternal BMI before pregnancy and duration of breast feeding. Material & Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The samples consisted of 243 mothers who had 2-4 years old children and were visited in Shiraz urban health centers for their growth monitoring. Stratified sampling method was applied, and the data were collected through questionnaires on their medical records. Results: There was a statistical significant relationship between BMI and breast feeding duration. There was not any statistical significant relationship between duration of breast feeding and mother and her husband's education, mother's occupation, mother's age, type of delivery, and child gender. Conclusion: Considering the relationship between short duration of breast feeding and maternal obesity, health education should be made for balancing mother's weight and contribute to the health of mothers and their children. Further research is recommended to confirm the results.