Appetite self-regulation in infancy - The role of direct breastfeeding

Infant feeding practices have a vital role to play in shaping the eating behaviour and overall health of individuals in both childhood as well as adulthood. A lesser-known advantage of breastfeeding in the global obesogenic environment, is its role in self-regulation of an infant’s appetite. Research demonstrates that children fed exclusively from the breast (that is, they are never bottle fed) develop the capacity for self-regulation of breastmilk intake – after all, mothers cannot possibly observe the quantity of milk the infant ingests. This encourages the infant to gain control, thus avoiding any overconsumption. On the other hand, bottle fed infants (whether mother’s milk or formula milk) are subjected to mother’s or other caregivers encouragement of bottle emptying. Since the regulation largely lies externally with the parent/caregiver on scheduled or timed feeding versus a cue feeding, this állows the possibility of such children being prevented from developing their own appetite responsiveness independently. Studies do find differences in satiety responses of children fed human milk with a bottle and those who were directly breastfed. Research has shown that directly breast-fed infants do not consume extra milk once their appetite stimulation phase ends. However, the teaching of bottle emptying during early infancy is positively associated with the weight gain. Such distinctions clearly emphasize the importance of breast feeding, but whether it is the milk composition (human or formula) or the mode of feeding (directly from breast or using bottle) that plays a bigger role in signalling appetite control warrants further examination. Considering that an infant’s weight gain or growth has a multifactorial causation, this review will highlight the association of direct breastfeeding with appetite signalling in infancy.