Breast-feeding may cut obesity risk in kids of diabetic moms

THE findings were the same across all
ethnicities. However, this protective effect
was not seen in babies who were breastfed
for less than six months. The study is
published in the February issue of the
journal, Diabetes Care.
Lead researcher, Dr Dana Dabelea, an
Associate Professor in the Epidemiology
Department at the Colorado School of Public
Health, said in a news release from the
American Diabetes Association: “Our data
suggests that breastfeeding promotion may
be an effective strategy for reducing the
increased risk of childhood obesity in
offspring of mothers with diabetes during
pregnancy. ”
Dabelea added: “Since childhood obesity
and in utero exposure to maternal diabetes
have both been associated with later
development of type 2 diabetes, it follows
that breastfeeding these children may also
help reduce their future risk for developing
type 2 [diabetes]. However, further research
would be needed to confirm that added
protection. ”
The findings reinforce the importance of
breastfeeding, an expert wrote in an
editorial accompanying the study.
“Beyond its important role for mother-child
bonding, breastfeeding as compared to
formula has a considerable number of
positive short- and long-term effects on
human development, such as decreased
incidence of high respiratory infections, a
lower risk of asthma and atopy, and a
decreased risk of high blood pressure, type
2 diabetes, as well as type 1 diabetes, ”
wrote Dr Andreas Plagemann of the
Obstetrics Clinic in the division of
Experimental Obstetrics at Charite-
University Medicine Berlin, Germany.
Moreover, profound evidence exists that
breastfeeding has the potential to
permanently decrease the long-term risk of
developing obesity, as shown by the results
of at least four meta-analyses on this issue, ”
the editorialist added.