Prolonged bottle use and obesity at 5.5 years of age in US children

Objective: To examine the association between prolonged bottle use and the risk of obesity at 5.5 years of age.

Study design: Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort were analyzed for 6750 US children born in 2001. The outcome was obesity (body mass index ≥ 95 th percentile) at 5.5 years, and the exposure was parental report of the child using a bottle at 24 months.

Results: The prevalence of obesity at 5.5 years was 17.6%, and 22.3% of children were using a bottle at 24 months. The prevalence of obesity at 5.5 years was 22.9% (95% CI, 19.4% to 26.4%) in children who at 24 months were using a bottle and was 16.1% (95% CI, 14.9% to 17.3%) in children who were not. Prolonged bottle use was associated with an increased risk of obesity at 5.5 years (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.68) after controlling for potential confounding variables (sociodemographic characteristics, maternal obesity, maternal smoking, breastfeeding, age of introduction of solid foods, screen-viewing time, and the child's weight status at birth and at 9 months of age).

Conclusions: Prolonged bottle use was associated with obesity at 5.5 years of age. Avoiding this behavior may help prevent early childhood obesity.