About the project

Data from the largest birth cohort in NZ (Growing up in New Zealand) will be used to investigate the social, maternal and infants’ determinants of any and exclusive breastfeeding duration, their associations with diet quality at 2 and 4.5 years, and with child obesity at 4.5 and 8 years. The protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding is central to countries' commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (1-2). Among the numerous benefits of breastfeeding to society, studies have been reporting its association with better diet quality in early life and the reduced risk of child obesity (3-5). However, these relationships are complex and could be influenced by confounding factors. Previous findings coming from the Growing up in New Zealand cohort showed that less than 16% of the babies were exclusively breastfed for 6 months and highlighted ethnic inequities, where babies from non-European mothers were less likely to be exclusively breastfed for 4 months or beyond (7). Child overweight/obesity affects one in three 2–14-year-olds in NZ, with a disproportional higher burden for children from Maāori and Pacific backgrounds and those from lower socioeconomic positions (6). Despite this scenario, the NZ lacks comprehensive national evidence on the determinants of breastfeeding and its associations with diet quality and obesity in childhood. This information is crucial for policy planning and for the country to advance towards meeting the global breastfeeding targets, improving diet quality in early life, and preventing child obesity. This project will use data from Growing Up in New Zealand and employ a life course approach in the analyses. It will use the information on breastfeeding indicators and children`s whole diet quality at 2 and 4.5 years previously described (7-10). Body-mass-index and waist-to-height ratio information will be sourced from the 4.5 and 8-year time points. Variables on maternal socio-demographics and health behaviours will be obtained from the antenatal interview. The main factors affecting the duration of any and exclusive breastfeeding duration will be examined using survival analyses based on the UNICEF conceptual framework on maternal and child nutrition (11,12) adapted to the New Zealand context and the variables available within the cohort`s datasets. Associations between any and exclusive breastfeeding duration with diet quality in early life and excess adiposity at 4.5 and 8 years will employ different multivariate analyses. Findings will be reported as thesis of postgraduate students, journal articles, presentations at conferences, and media releases.

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Project start date: 1/03/2025