Breastfeeding reduces risk of diabetes

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study shows that duration of breastfeeding can influence the risk of type 2 diabetes in later life.
We already know some of the risk factors for diabetes - obesity and lack of exercise for example. Now doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, reveal that duration of breastfeeding is another factor.

They analyzed data from the two long-running Nurses' Health Studies, covering groups of over 83,000 and over 73,000 women who had given birth. They also looked at cases of type 2 diabetes in the two studies and found a link with duration of breast feeding. There was a 15 per cent reduced risk per year of breastfeeding in one study and a 14 per cent reduced risk in the other.

Breastfeeding does improve glucose control, but it was not known that the effects could be long-lasting. More research is needed to understand the mechanism by which breastfeeding might protect from type 2 diabetes.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association November 23/30 Volume 294 pages 2601-2610

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