Breastfeeding Duration Linked with Children’s Better Diet Quality, Notes New Journal Article

Recent research has been published in the Journal of Human Lactation, coauthored by Westat staff, finding that low-income children who breastfed longer had better diet quality than those with shorter durations: Breastfeeding Duration in a Low-Income Sample Is Associated With Child Diet Quality at Age Three.

The research is from the Women, Infants, and Children Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study 2 (WIC ITFPS-2), a longitudinal examination of feeding practices among mothers who originally enrolled in WIC prenatally or shortly after giving birth and the nutritional and growth outcomes of their children. Westat conducts the study for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).

“The paper’s findings suggest that breastfeeding supports offered by WIC may have important implications for children’s health well beyond infancy,” says Westat Senior Study Director Christine Borger, Ph.D., principal investigator for WIC ITFPS-2 and a co-author of the report.