Breastfeeding Help To Protect Children From Overweight

Breastfeeding infants during the first 4-6 months of life may offer some protection against overweight in childhood.

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This finding comes out of the European-wide study IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS), and supports current recommendations for breastfeeding. The World Health Organization recommends that mothers breastfeed exclusively – that is, nourish their child with breast milk only – for the first six months of life. This is based on evidence that breastfed infants have a lower risk of disease, including gastrointestinal disorders and lower respiratory tract infections. The link between breastfeeding and overweight, however, remains unclear. To elucidate the effect exclusive breastfeeding has on a child’s risk of developing overweight, researchers looked at data from the IDEFICS study on 14,726 children from eight European countries. There were roughly equal numbers of boys and girls, aged between 2 and 9 years.