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Breast feeding could reduce obesity in children
01/Oct/2006: Infants, who are breast-fed, are at a lesser risk of becoming obese, even though if their mothers suffer from obesity or diabetes, according to a new study conducted by researchers from University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health.
The findings of this study contradict an earlier study, which found that infants breast-fed by mothers with diabetes had poor glucose tolerance (a signal to diabetes) and suffer from excessive weight.
Dr. Elizabeth Mayer- Davis, the lead researcher of this study, which includes researchers from Harvard University and Women’s hospital in Boston, said that the sample size of this new study was much higher than the earlier study and it included mothers with and without diabetes.
She added that the findings of this study is important in today’s context, with United States suffering from a ‘Obesity’ epidemic that is leading to type 2 diabetes in many individuals. Moreover, this study signifies the importance of breast-feeding in reducing the risk of childhood obesity.
The study, which included more than 15,000 boys and girls in the age group of 9 to 14, was conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health. Researchers found that those children, who were breast-fed in their first year of life, were less likely to get obese at a later age, in spite of their mothers being overweight or diabetic.
Researchers of this study believe that there are several reasons why breast-fed babies are less likely to get obese, which includes nutritional composition of mother’s milk, infant’s biological response to breast milk, etc.,
Mayer-Davis said that breast-feeding can help children to stay healthy and families with a history of diabetes / heart diseases or hypertension should encourage breast-feeding to safeguard their child’s health in future.
K Siva
Further Reading
http://www.breastfit.com
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