Victoria Bertacchi

VICTORIA BERTACCHI, then a graduate student at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, was approved funding in September 2022 to aid research on “Influences of Human Milk Metabolic Hormone Transfer and Breastfeeding Practices on Early Infant Growth and Body Composition in Samoa,” supervised by Dr. Richard Bribiescas. My research examined how a mother’s weight may influence infant growth and body composition development in Samoa through hormones passed during breastfeeding. Hormones in human milk, which reflect the mother’s own hormone levels, may help regulate infant hunger and fullness and could shape eating behaviors later in life. Alongside hormonal analysis, the research also explored Samoan cultural beliefs about infant feeding to understand how biological and cultural factors work together. We found that hormone levels (leptin and adiponectin) in human milk were not linked to changes in infant weight, length, or skinfold thickness over time. However, higher levels of milk adiponectin were associated with greater triceps circumference, while milk leptin showed a possible association with abdominal size. We also found that mothers’ perceptions of how easily their infants felt full were related to differences in infant growth and body fat measures (infant weight-for-length, head circumference, and sum of skinfold measurements), suggesting implications for catch-up growth in infants perceived by their mothers as less easily satisfied. This research contributes to broader anthropological understanding of maternal influences on child development, how early-life experiences shape long-term health, and how appetite regulation develops, while also informing public health policy and breastfeeding advocacy.