Breastfeeding may lower diabetes risk in mothers

1 September 2010

MedWire News: Mothers who breastfeed their children for at least 1 month may have a lower risk for diabetes than those who breastfeed for less time or do not breast feed at all, US researchers report.

They also suggest that exclusive breastfeeding may offer greater protection from diabetes than partial breastfeeding.

“These findings highlight the importance to maternal health of consistent lactation after each birth,” say Eleanor Schwarz (University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and team.

They add: “Diet and exercise are widely known to impact the risk for Type 2 diabetes, but few people realize that breastfeeding also reduces mothers’ risk for developing the disease later in life by reducing maternal belly fat.”

As reported in the American Journal of Medicine, the researchers observed the 5-year development of diabetes among 2233 women aged between 40 and 78 years.

In all, 1828 women reported at least one live birth, the majority of whom (56%) reported breastfeeding their baby for 1 month or more.

After multivariate analyses, the team found that mothers who never breastfed were 1.43 times more likely to develop diabetes than those who breastfed for 6 months or more. Mothers who never breastfed exclusively were 1.38 times more likely to develop diabetes than those who breastfed exclusively for at least 1 month.

Of note, mothers who breastfed for at least 1 month had a similar risk for diabetes as women who had never been pregnant. However, mothers who never breastfed had a 1.93-fold increased risk for diabetes compared with women who had never been pregnant.

The researchers comment: “The reasons why mothers who do not breastfeed are at increased risk for diabetes remain incompletely understood.”

They say, however, that the answers may lie with the observation that “in women with gestational diabetes, lactation has been found to improve glucose and lipid metabolism.”

Schwarz et al observe that despite the 2006 recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics’ for mothers to breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months, only 14% of US mothers do so.

“Ongoing support of breastfeeding is therefore needed from women’s healthcare providers as well as legislators and workplace policy-makers,” they conclude.

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2010

Am J Med 2010; 123: 863.e1–836.e6