A 30 year U.S study reveals that women who practice exclusive breastfeeding for six months or longer appear to significantly curtail the risk of developing type II diabetes.
The Kaiser Permanente research, published in the U.S. journal JAMA Internal Medicine, examined data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA).
The study comprised of 1,238 black and white women who did not have diabetes when they enrolled in CARDIA, or prior to their subsequent pregnancies.
Over the next 30 years, each woman had at least one live birth and was consistently screened for diabetes under the CARDIA protocol.
The study which also captured the lifestyle behaviors of the participants including diet, physical activity and total amount of time they breastfed their children showed that, those who breastfed for six months or more across all births had a 47 per cent reduction in their risk of developing type II diabetes compared to those who did not breastfeed at all.
Erica Gunderson, lead author and a senior research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research explained that the study found a strong association between breastfeeding duration and lower risk of developing diabetes, even after accounting for all possible confounding risk factors.
The new findings added to a growing body of evidence that breastfeeding has protective effects for both mothers and their progeny, including lowering a mother’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Several plausible biological mechanisms are possible for the protective effects of breastfeeding, including the influence of lactation-associated hormones on the pancreatic cells that control blood insulin levels and thereby impact blood sugar.
Tracy Flanagan, director of women’s health for Kaiser Permanente Northern California said: “we have known for a long time that breastfeeding has many benefits both for mothers and babies.
“However, previous evidence demonstrated only weak effects on chronic disease in women. “Now we see much stronger protection from this new study showing that mothers who breastfeed for months after their delivery, may be reducing their risk of developing type II diabetes by up to one half as they get older.
“This is yet another reason that doctors, nurses, and hospitals as well as policymakers should support women and their families to breastfeed as long as possible.”
