The effect of early feeding practices on growth indices and obesity at preschool children from four European countries and UK schoolchildren and adolescents.

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Early feeding practices, i.e., any breastfeeding duration and age of introduction of complementary foods, do not appear to be consistently associated with height z-score, overweight/obesity, and body fat mass in preschool children from four European countries and in UK schoolchildren and adolescents. What is known? • Healthy growth and childhood obesity partly originate from early life. What is new? • Breastfeeding duration less than 6months was associated with lower height z-scores in 5-year-old French children, while the opposite was observed in 4-year-old British children. • Introduction of complementary foods earlier than 4months was positively associated with fat mass levels in 5-year-old French children, but not in the other three countries. • Early feeding practices did not appear to be consistently associated with growth and adiposity indices, and as such, no clear influence can be observed.