Table 1 Characteristics of included studies in the meta-analysis

Armstrong 2002 [39]

Great Britain

IHC

39-42 months

32,200

Formula-fed, BF

BMI ≥ 95^th

Gender, birth weight, SES

Bergmann 2003 [40]

Germany

PC

6 years

480

Bottle-fed, BF

BMI ≥ 97^th

Overweight mother, SES^c

Beyerlein

2008 [41]

Germany

CS

54-88 months

9,368

Never & ever BF

BMI ≥ 97^th

Weight gain from birth to years of life, maternal BMI, parents’ graduate^bc

Burke 2005 [42]

Australia

PC

1-8 years

1,672

Never, BF ≤ 4 mo, BF ≤ 8 mo, BF ≤ 12 mo, BF > 12 mo

BMI ≥ 95^th

Birth weight, gestational age, ethnicity, sex, maternal BMI, first child, and maternal education^c

Gillman 2001 [43]

United States

CS

9-14 years

14,377

Mostly or only fed formula, mostly or only BF

BMI ≥ 95^th

Age, sex, birth weight, birth order, Tanner stage, exercises, daily energy intake, mother’s BMI, and household income, dietary restraint, weight cycling, and weight concerns^bc

Grummer-Strawn 2004 [44]

United States

IHC

4 years

12,587

Never, BF < 1 mo, BF ≤ 2.9 mo, BF ≤ 5.9 mo, BF ≤ 11.9 mo, BF ≥ 12 mo

BMI ≥ 95^th

Gender, race/ethnicity, birth weight, and mother’s age, education, prepregnancy BMI, and weight gain during pregnancy ^c

Hawkins 2009 [45]

Great Britain

PC

3 years

13,172

Never, BF < 4 mo, BF ≥ 4 mo

IOTF

Birth weight, gender, ethnicity, introduction of solid foods, maternal SES, education, lone motherhood status, age at first live birth, number of children, household income, parental overweight, country, et al.^bc

Hediger 2001 [46]

United States

CS

3-5 years

2,656

Never & ever EBF

BMI ≥ 95^th

Birth weight, race/ethnicity, gender, age group, mother’s BMI, timing of introduction to solid foods

Jwa 2014 [47]

Japan

PC

1.5-8 years

41,572

Formula feeding, mixed feeding, EBF

IOTF

Birth weight, having elder sibling(s), maternal educational level, age and total house-hold income at 0.5 years old ^c

Koletzko 2009 [48]

Germany

CS

5-6 years

9,357

Never & ever BF

BMI ≥ 97^th

Parental education, low birth weight, own bedroom, frequent consumption of butter^c

Kwok 2010 [49]

Hong Kong

PC

7 years

7,026

Never, partially or EBF <3 mo, EBF ≥ 3 mo

IOTF

Sex, birth weight, gestational age, birth order, mother’s age at birth, birthplace, number of hospital admissions at 0–3 months, parental education, occupation, income^c

Li 2003 [50]

Great Britain

CS

4-18 years

2,631

Never, BF ≤ 1 mo, BF ≤ 3 mo, BF ≤ 6 mo, BF ≤ 9 mo, BF > 9 mo

BMI ≥ 95^th

Sex, parent’s BMI, birth weight, and social class^c

Liese 2001 [51]

Germany

CS

9-10 years

2,108

Formula-fed, BF

BMI > 90^th

Age, gender, city, nationality, SES, number of siblings^c

McCrory 2012 [52]

Republic of Ireland

IHC

9 years

7,798

Never, BF ≤ 4 wk, BF ≤ 8 wk, BF ≤ 12 wk, BF ≤ 25 wk, BF ≥ 26 wk

IOTF

Dietary quality, exercise, maternal education, gestational age, nationality, weight status, household income^bc

Moschonis 2008 [53]

Greek

IHC

1-5 years

2,374

Exclusive formula-fed, mixed, EBF

BMI ≥ 95^th

Parental education, weight status, maternal gestational diabetes mellitus, alcohol consumption patterns during pregnancy, age at birth, birth rank^c

Moss 2014 [54]

United States

PC

2-4 years

14,150

Never & ever BF

BMI ≥ 95^th

Maternal education, maternal age, maternal race, family poverty, children’s birth weight and gender

Novaes 2011 [55]

Brazilian

CS

6-10 years

764

Never & ever BF

BMI > 2SD

Gender, physical education classes, siblings, maternal nutritional state during pregnancy^bc

O’Challaghan 1997 [56]

Australia

PC

5 years

2,034

Formula fed, BF ≥ 6 mo, exclusiveness unclear

BMI ≥ 94^th

Birth weight, gander, small for gestational age, feeding problems, sleeplessness, parental BMI, maternal education, household income

Scholtens 2008 [57]

Dutch

PC

8 years

2,043

Never, BF ≤ 16 wk, BF > 16 wk

IOTF

Maternal education, overweight, diet at 7 years of age^bc

Scott 2012 [58]

Australia

IHC

9-16 years

2,066

Never, BF < 2 mo, BF < 4 mo, BF < 6 mo, BF ≥ 6 mo

IOTF

Age, gender, energy intake, physical activity, sleep duration, maternal age, education, ethnicity^b

Toschke 2002 [59]

Czech Republic

CS

6-14 years

33,768

Never & ever BF

BMI ≥ 97^th

Parental education and obesity, birth weight, sports outside school, number of siblings^bc

Twells 2010 [60]

Canada

CS

4 years

1,026

formula feeding ≥ 3 mo, mixed feeding ≥3 mo, EBF ≥ 3 mo

BMI ≥ 95^th

Birth weight, gender, age, maternal education, whether the baby was preterm or full term^c

Van Rossem 2010 [61]

United States

PC

3 years

884

Never, any BF <6 mo, partial BF ≥ 6 mo, EBF ≥ 6 mo

BMI ≥ 95^th

Age, sex, maternal educational, race, BMI, pregnancy weight gain, birth weight, gestational age^c

Von Kries 1999 [62]

Germany

CS

5-6 years

9,206

Never, EBF ≤ 2 mo, EBF ≤ 5 mo, EBF ≤ 12 mo, BF > 12 mo

BMI ≥ 97^th

Parental education, low birth weight, own bedroom, consumption of butter^c

Zhao 2013 [63]

China

PC

2-8.4 years

1,189

Formula feeding, mixed feeding, EBF

Boys’ BMI ≥96.3^th Girls’ BMI ≥98^th

Maternal weight and BMI before pregnancy, maternal weight increase and the level of blood glucose during pregnancy, gender, birth weight, father weight