Feature

Research highlights

The long-term effects of breastfeeding on child and adolescent mental health: a pregnancy cohort study followed for 14 years.

Oddy WH, Kendall GE, Li J, Jacoby P, Robinson M, de Klerk NH, Silburn SR, Zubrick SR, Landau LI, Stanley FJ. Pediatr. 2010 Apr;156(4):568-74. Epub 2009 Dec 14.

A study of more than 2300 infants born between 1989 and 1992 investigated the connection between a child’s mental health and breastfeeding history. Checkpoints at 2 days, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 14 years involved questionnaires, clinical assessments, and interviews of children and caregivers. Data relating to breastfeeding initiation and duration, as well as Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) surveys were collected at each point. Higher scores on the CBCL surveys were associated with worsening mental health status. It was found that breastfeeding for less than 6 months compared to greater than 6 months was associated with poorer mental health status (as indicated by higher CBCL scores). This difference may be related to increased maternal contact during breastfeeding, as well as to the unique fatty acid and other bioactive components of breastmilk.

PARITY, BREASTFEEDING AND THE SUBSEQUENT RISK OF MATERNAL TYPE 2 DIABETES. Liu B, Jorm L, Banks E. Diabetes Care. 2010 Mar 23. [Epub ahead of print]

A recent study from Australia followed nearly 53,000 women as part of a cohort study. Researchers examined how the occurrence of Type II Diabetes differed among women based on their pregnancy and breastfeeding history. Among women with children, women who had breastfed experienced a 14% reduced likelihood of developing diabetes per year of breastfeeding compared to women with children who had not breastfed. Compared to women with no children, women who had children but did not breastfeed were at a 50% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Comfort with the idea of formula feeding helps explain ethnic disparity in breastfeeding intentions among expectant first-time mothers. Nommsen-Rivers LA, Chantry CJ, Cohen RJ, Dewey KG. Breastfeed Med. 2010 Feb;5:25-33.

This study interviewed 532 expectant first time mothers of different ethnic backgrounds about their comfort with breastfeeding and formula feeding.

African American women were just as likely as women of other ethnicities to be comfortable with the idea of breastfeeding their babies. However, they were far more comfortable with the idea of formula feeding their babies as compared to women of other ethnicities. It was greater comfort with formula use that explained differences in breastfeeding plans. “The study results tell us that public health campaigns to promote breastfeeding must also include messages regarding the risks of formula feeding,” lead author Laurie Nommsen-Rivers is quoted in the Cincinnati Tribune.