Establishment of Normative Data for the Amount of Breast Tissue Present in Healthy Children up to Two Years of Age

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To establish a set of normal values for breast size in children up to two years of age, and to assess the effects of gender, gestational age, and type of feeding and growth parameters on breast size. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study over 20 months SETTING: The Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN, neonatal nursery and Community Pediatrics Clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Well term infants and children through two years of age. INTERVENTIONS: Measurement of breast size based on previously described methods to yield a figure called the breast unit. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Transformation of breast unit size into percentiles according to age. RESULTS: The 50(th) to 99(th) percentiles for 810 healthy term Cau..