{
  "abstract": "Background Breastfeeding is a cornerstone of child health. We investigated the associations of any breastfeeding initiation and duration with physical, mental and behavioural health conditions among children aged 3–5 years in the USA.Methods Data were derived from the 2016 to 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health, which is a national, population-based, cross-sectional study. A total of 40 280 children aged 3–5 years were included. Any breastfeeding initiation and duration, physical (asthma, allergies, arthritis, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy or seizure disorder, heart conditions or severe headaches), mental (anxiety or depression) and behavioural (Tourette syndrome, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or behavioural/conduct problems) health conditions were measured using parent-reported questionnaires.Results Any breastfeeding was significantly associated with lower odds of behavioural health conditions (OR=0.76, 95% CI: 0.58 to 0.99) and marginally with mental health conditions (OR=0.70, 95% CI: 0.48 to 1.02, p=0.067). There was a significant non-linear trend between any breastfeeding duration and having a mental or behavioural health condition (all P non-linear<0.001). The intervals of significant associations were 7.3–23.4 months for mental condition and 6.8–24.1 months for behavioural condition (the most associated points at 15.6 and 15.3 months). There were no significant associations of any breastfeeding initiation and duration with physical health.Conclusions Any breastfeeding was linked to better behavioural health and marginally to mental health, with no association found for physical health among children aged 3–5 years in the USA. Any breastfeeding duration of approximately 15 months appears to have the strongest association with promoting children’s mental and behavioural health.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education",
        "Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Ning Pan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education",
        "Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Kang-You Li"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Child Healthcare, Affiliated Foshan Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, Foshan, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Sai-Jun Huang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Joint International Research Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Environmental Pollution and Health Risk Assessment, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Li-Zi Lin"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Lei Shi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Fitness Surveillance Centre, China Institute of Sport Science, Beijing, China"
      ],
      "name": "Qiang Feng"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Radiology, Sun Yat-sen University First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Yingqian Chen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education",
        "Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "An-Qi Ren"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Maternal and Child Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Li Cai"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education",
        "Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Xu-Chu Weng"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education",
        "Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"
      ],
      "name": "Xin Wang"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Breastfeeding initiation and duration: links to physical, mental and behavioural health in US children aged 3–5 years",
  "uid": "fcab84d8-16aa-59b8-87d0-cd8c3cc6c609"
}