OBJECTIVE: To associate exclusive breastfeeding with central and peripheral adiposity measured by body mass index, waist and arm circumferences, triceps and subscapular skinfolds and their sum in preschool children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled 134 preschool children aged 3-5 years from a private school in Brasília, Brazil. All children had their body weight, height, waist and arm circumferences, and triceps and subscapular skinfolds measured. Children's parents an-swered a questionnaire about breastfeeding duration. Overweight and obesity were diagnosed based on the World Health Organization's classification for the body mass index for age. RESULTS: Girls had higher adiposity in the triceps skinfold (p=0.001), subscapular skinfold (p=0.044) and in their sum (p=0.003), when compared to boys. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was similar between genders (25.4% for boys and 22.6% for girls), as it was exclusive breastfeeding (4.3 months for boys and 4.6 months for girls). A significant inverse correlation was found only between exclusive breastfeeding and waist circumference (r=-0.166; p=0.05). Other anthropometric variables showed a trend to present an inverse correlation with exclusive breastfeeding, but lacked statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The significant inverse association between exclusive breastfeeding and waist circumference indicates a possible effect of breastfeeding in body fat distribution in preschool children.
breastfeeding; adiposity; obesity, abdominal; child, preschool