| Metabolic syndrome is an increasingly prevalent condition, in part due to rising obesity rates. Determining risk factors for metabolic syndrome is critical for primary prevention. Targeting early risk factors can slow the cascade of cardiometabolic risk factors that lead to metabolic syndrome. Among children and adolescents, not being breastfed is one potential risk factor for metabolic syndrome due to higher risk of obesity.;This systematic review assesses the association between being breastfed and the development of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. In 11 studies reviewed, seven found a protective association between breastfeeding and metabolic syndrome, and four failed to find an association. None of the studies found that being breastfed increased the risk of metabolic syndrome. There was no clear dose-response relationship between length of breastfeeding and metabolic syndrome risk and also no added effect of being exclusively breastfed. When rated on a quality assessment scoring system defined by the author, the overall quality of the articles was moderate. In general, lower quality articles failed to find an association, while higher quality articles did find an association. Odds ratios reported by higher quality articles tended to be closer to one or less, while lower quality articles had a wider range of odds ratios.;There is a lack of high quality research on the role of being breastfed and development of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. The evidence presented in this review implies that there is a protective association, but further research with improvements in study design is needed. |
