Breastfeeding and parents’ socioeconomic status buffer dental developmental stress in female infants

The sex-specific results are likely due to differences in the nutritional needs of males and females during the first several postnatal months. Furthermore, dimorphism in energetic investment strategies, where males favor body growth while females favor system development, may be responsible for differences in how periods of physiological stress affect biological systems. These results argue for sex-specific investigations of stress biomarkers to better link early life with adult health.