ABSTRACT
Child obesity is increased in developing countries. This study assessed the prevalence of obesity on children which are exclusively on breast feeding and its duration among children aged 24-59 months in Bandar Turkmen district Northern, Iran. In this descriptive- analytical study, 343 in children aged 24-59 months were selected with stratified random sampling. Obesity was defined as >+2SD NCHS [National Center for Health Surveys] reference. Data were collected by questionnaire, interview with mothers and were analyzed with Chi-Square and Fisher tests and multiple regression logistic models. In this study, 6.4% of children were obese. Prevalence of obesity was not significantly different between boys and girls [5.4% and 7.4% respectively]. Breast feeding duration<18 months [P<0.005] and formula or cow's milk plus breast feeding up to 6 months old [P<0.01] was significantly correlated with children's obesity. Breast feeding duration more than 18 months reduced the obesity risk factor with 64%.This study demonstrated that exclusively breast feeding in the first 6 months of life and breast feeding duration more than 18 months reduce the child obesity