Breast-feeding lowers diabetes risks

Breastfeeding is often proclaimed as a major influence on child health, and researchers now report that it can prevent a chain of events leading to childhood obesity .
Women who develop gestational diabetes mellitus (sometimes called GDM) often give birth to children who will become obese. One expert at the helm of the study reportedly said: “In a recent study of infants of mothers who had GDM, we demonstrated that parental obesity and excessive intrauterine growth resulting in neonatal overweight independently contribute to early childhood obesity.”
The study, which is published in the journal diabetes care, had a study group of just under 325 women. The study took place in Berli, Germany, and asked mothers about their breast-feeding patterns.
The results indicated that mothers who breast-fed their children for over three months reduced the risk of them becoming overweight in early childhood by approximately 50 per cent. Unsurprisingly, women who were suffering from GDM and were also obese were less likely to breast-feed.