Association of Metabolic Syndrome with the Number of Breastfed Children in Postmenopausal Korean Women

Background: Metabolic syndrome is closely related to cardiovascular disease, and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women is increasing rapidly. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between the number of breastfed children and the risk factors for metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women and to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome and bone mineral density and body composition variables in postmenopausal women depending on the number of breastfed children. Methods: Data from KNHANES V-1 and 2 (2010-2011) were used, and a total of 939 postmenopausal women with 1 to 6 breastfed children aged 65-80 years participated in this study. We divided these women into three groups (group1 with 1-2, group2 with 3-4, group3 with 5-6) depending on the number of breastfed children. Results: In the analysis of the associations between metabolic syndrome and its risk factors, high density lipoprotein cholesterol was the most negatively strongly associated with group1 (OR=0.103 [0.047-0.225]), triglyceride showed the highest association with group2 (OR=7.760 [3.770-15.97]) and group3 (OR=7.668 [4.102-14.33]). The risk factors of metabolic syndrome except for high density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride was not associated with group1. In contrast, all risk factors of metabolic syndrome displayed a high association with group2 and group3. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that the number of breastfed children is significantly associated with a more significant number of risk factors of metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women, and the association between metabolic syndrome and body composition variables may differ depending on the number of breastfed children.