Clinical Psychology Commons^™

The Relationship Of Infant Feeding And Self-Regulation In Pediatric Obesity, Amy Rebecca Beck

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Pediatric overweight and obesity is a growing national epidemic with 15 percent of children ages 6-19 considered obese and at least 22 percent considered overweight. Although there are many suggested causes, treatments, and preventions for this epidemic, a construct that is showing promise in the current literature as a preventive factor against obesity is breastfeeding in infancy. However, the mechanisms by which breastfeeding may impact later childhood weight are unknown. Some of the literature posits the possibility of self-regulation as a key mechanism in the role of breastfeeding in pediatric overweight/obesity. The purpose of this study was to examine the …