Title:Association of Metabolic Syndrome with the Number of Breastfed
Children in Postmenopausal Korean Women
Volume: 25
Issue: 4
Author(s): Jeonghee Hwang and Jeonghee Chi*
Affiliation:
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul,Korea
Keywords:
Metabolic syndrome, breastfed children, postmenopausal women, anthropometrics, bone mineral density, body composition variables.
Abstract: Background: Metabolic syndrome is closely related to cardiovascular disease, and the
prevalence of metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women is increasing rapidly.
Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between the number of
breastfed children and the risk factors for metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women and to
evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome and bone mineral density and body
composition variables in postmenopausal women depending on the number of breastfed children
Methods: Data from KNHANES V-1 and 2 (2010-2011) were used, and a total of 939
postmenopausal women with 1 to 6 breastfed children aged 65-80 years participated in this study.
We divided these women into three groups (group1 with 1-2, group2 with 3-4, group3 with 5-6)
depending on the number of breastfed children
Results: In the analysis of the associations between metabolic syndrome and its risk factors, highdensity
lipoprotein cholesterol was the most negatively strongly associated with group1 (OR=0.103
[0.047-0.225]), triglyceride showed the highest association with group2 (OR=7.760 [3.770-15.97])
and group3 (OR=7.668 [4.102-14.33]). The risk factors of metabolic syndrome except for highdensity
lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride was not associated with group1. In contrast, all risk
factors of metabolic syndrome displayed a high association with group2 and group3.
Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that the number of breastfed children is
significantly associated with a more significant number of risk factors of metabolic syndrome in
postmenopausal women, and the association between metabolic syndrome and body composition
variables may differ depending on the number of breastfed children.