Changes in body composition in lactating adolescent mothers

we assessed changes in body composition in lactating adolescent mothers living under unfavorable socioeconomic and sanitary conditions. a total of 17 healthy primiparous adolescents under 17 years of age attending the maternity hospital of the city of la plata, argentina, were followed at 4 time points (15 days and 3, 6 and 12 months postpartum) to assess, a) dietary intake, b) practice of physical activity, c) nutritional condition (weight, height, body mass index; bmi; according to age, and body composition by the sum of skinfold measurements), d) characteristics of lactation, and e) growth parameters of the child. the mean age of adolescents was 15.06 ± 0.66 years (mean menarchal age, 11.59 ± 0.80 years). all adolescents breastfed up to 12 months postpartum, and maternal milk covered above 80% the baby intake (mean 7.06 ± 2.54 breast feeds/day). while the daily intake of nutrients by adolescent mothers was constant up to 6 months postpartum, there was a modest decrease in that of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids 15 days and 12 months postpartum. the decrease in energetic intake during the same period was significant (p< 0.05). the practice of physical activity was classified as moderate during the follow-up period. whereas mean basal percent of fat body mass (fbm) was 29.85 ± 2.87, and decreased significantly at 6 (27.2% ± 3.9%; p= 0.02) and 12 (26.1% ± 3.9%; p=0.002) months postpartum, changes in lean body mass (lbm) were not significant. in conclusion, lactating adolescents maintained lbm, whereas weight, fbm and bmi decreased markedly from 3 months postpartum.