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Objective: To assess the impact of breast feeding on the risk of obesity and risk of being overweight in children at the time of entry to school.

Design: Cross sectional survey

Setting: Bavaria, southern Germany.

Methods: Routine data were collected on the height and weight of 134 577 children participating in the obligatory health examination at the time of school entry in Bavaria. In a subsample of 13 345 children, early feeding, diet, and lifestyle factors were assessed using responses to a questionnaire completed by parents.

Subjects: 9357 children aged 5 and 6 who had German nationality.

Main outcome measures: Being overweight was defined as having a body mass index above the 90th centile and obesity was defined as body mass index above the 97th centile of all enrolled German children. Exclusive breast feeding was defined as the child being fed no food other than breast milk.

Results: The prevalence of …