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Bottle-fed babies 'face higher risk of heart death'
The paper, published in the Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals, establishes beyond doubt that breastfed babies become healthier adults.
The study, which has run for 20 years, found that babies given breastmilk became adults with cholesterol levels on average 14% lower than bottle-fed babies.
Breastfeeding babies, say the authors, could save many lives. A 10% reduction in cholesterol would cut cardiovascular disease by a quarter. At present it affects 10.7% of the UK population, which is more than 5 million people. It could reduce deaths by 13-14%, saving over 30,000 lives a year in this country alone.
"It is quite possible that hundreds of thousands of deaths in the west are prevented by breastfeeding and many more would be prevented if the uptake of breastfeeding were greater," said Alan Lucas, director of the Medical Research Council's Childhood Nutrition Research Centre in London.
Almost a third of new mothers in the UK do not breastfeed their babies at all, and beyond two weeks only half of all babies are breastfed. Around 200,000 babies a year are put on to a bottle from birth.
Professor Lucas says that the study shows that breastfeeding has the effect of "programming" the baby's body so that it will produce less cholesterol in later life.
What is important is not so much the nutritional value of the milk as the signal is sends to the developing system. The study showed the "programming" was in place within as little as four weeks of breastfeeding beginning.
Bottle-fed babies tend to grow faster than those who are breastfed, but the study turns old thinking about small babies on its head. It is not a good thing to feed them up rapidly, to turn them into large and bonny bouncing babies. Slow growth appears to be better for their health as adults.
For Prof Lucas and his team, this study completes a jigsaw, confirming the trend of previous work on high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. In all of them, breastfed babies had better protection from disease and ill-health than those given bottles.
"What we have shown from all our studies so far is that the diet we are fed in early life is probably one of the most important things we can control," he said. "Diets that promote more rapid growth in early life put you at risk from heart disease and heart attacks.
"It is a revolution in one important respect. If you talk to paediatricians and health professionals, they do think it is best to have a big, strong, bonny baby and grow the baby as fast as you can. We have to be careful not to grow the baby too fast. That would be detrimental."
Prof Lucas' studies were triggered by the results of work on animals as long as 40 years ago, which showed that what they were fed in early life predetermined their pattern of health.
"I wanted to know if humans could be programmed by early nutrition," he said.
But it would inevitably take decades to find the answer: "Twenty-eight years ago we set up these randomised trials, knowing it would take a long time to get the results. These trials are unique."
The results were more definitive than he had expected: "Even we are really surprised by the size of the effect."
There have been observational studies in the past that have noted that breastfed babies had less heart disease than those who were bottle-fed. This study was a randomised controlled trial - the so-called "gold standard" in science.
It followed up 216 premature babies who had been randomly allocated to either human breast milk or to formula after they were born in the 1980s and compared the cholesterol levels of the two groups.
The significance of the study stems not from the numbers of babies but from the randomisation, the timespan and the substantial difference in cholesterol levels (14%) found between the two groups.
The National Childbirth Trust, which works to encourage new mothers to breastfeed, welcomed the research. "This new research adds to the growing body of scientific evidence that demonstrates the numerous benefits of breastfeeding," said Belinda Phipps, chief executive.
"We know that breastfed babies are less likely to be overweight and have less chance of developing diabetes in childhood for example but this research also suggests that breastfeeding can have a major beneficial effect on health in later life too.
"Conversely, formula milk has been linked with a higher incidence of respiratory disease, high blood pressure, ear and urinary tract infections, diarrhoea and gastroenteritis.
"We need to see a real shift away from the current bottle-feeding culture in the UK to one where breastfeeding is completely accepted and supported by society so women are able to breastfeed wherever and whenever their baby needs to be fed."
Decades of bottle-feeding babies may have left a costly legacy, in both human and financial terms, of a generation of adults at higher risk of death and disability from heart disease and stroke than they should be, according to research published today.
"When we trust the makers of baby formula more than we do our own ability to nourish our babies, we lose a chance to claim an aspect of our power as women. Thinking that baby formula is as good as breast milk is believing that thirty years of technology is superior to three million years of nature's evolution. Countless women have regained trust in their bodies through nursing their children, even if they weren't sure at first that they could do it. It is an act of female power, and I think of it as feminism in its purest form."
-Christine Northrup M.D
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~Recipe of the month~
Thank you Steph H
1/4 c. boiling water
.3 oz package of SUGAR FREE jello (NOT a 3 oz. package of regular)
16 oz. of non-fat yogurt
8 oz. fat free cool whip
1 reduced fat graham cracker crust
Dissolve the jello into the boiling water, stirring well to make sure the powder dissolves as completely as possible. Mix the yogurt and cool whip completely, then add the jello/water mixture and mix again. Pour the entire mixture into the graham cracker crust. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
You can use ANY flavor of sugar-free jello; just make sure it's SUGAR FREE. I've tried this with regular jello and it DOES NOT work (all that sugar in the packet just doesn't dissolve). This is a yummy, light dessert, perfect for summer. AND, if you cut it into 12 slices, it's only 2 weight watchers points per slice! (Eight slices is 3 points each.) Add some fresh fruit to really make it yummy (probably would only had 1/2 a point per slice, if that).
My only caveat is to ask our pregnant members not to try it (due to the Nutrasweet content).
Photo shown is using sugar free peach jello, with diced peaches on top.
anjiecbz
What is your earliest memory of breastfeeding?
My earliest memory was when I nursed Cheyenne (my oldest). I was soo young & clueless but the way she looked at me when she was nursing made me feel like I was the most important person in the world!!
Where did you grow up?
Bloomington, IL. I moved here (Florida) when I was 17 & have been here ever since.
What is your dream job?
I would love to own a little cafe or coffee shop after my children are older. I love being a sahm & wouldn't give that up for anything!!
Do you have problems nursing in public or in front of people?
What is your favorite thing about being a mom?
Everyone has been very supportive. But they all have very different views on extended nursing so I just follow my heart & my baby's cues.
Not at all. I did very early but after going into a room at the doctors office & being forgotten about, I decided that I needed to get over my hesitation. Now I nurse everywhere & in front of anybody!!!
It is hard to pick one thing but I guess it would have to be the unconditional love between my children & I.
We are looking for breastfeeding stories, birth stories, and photos for our nursing photo album. Please email submissions to Ms. Frizzle or Quinn