Risk of diabetes lowered by mothers milk

Infants who drink mother’s milk face a lower chance of developing diabetes later on in life, according to a study in the diabetes news today. According to the report, breast-feeding for a two month period lowers non-insulin dependent diabetes risk by over 50%.
The author of the study, Dr. David J. Pettitt was reported in the Lancet as commenting: “Given the possible protective effect of breast-feeding on non-insulin dependent diabetes in the Pima Indian population, the disturbing worldwide trends toward less breast-feeding, and the increased rate of NIDDM — particularly in developing countries — further data about the risk of NIDDM and breast-feeding practices from other populations are clearly needed.”
Another view was put forward by diabetes expert Dr. Simmons, who reportedly wrote in an editorial accompanying the study: “Although breast-feeding is now almost universally accepted as the ideal means of infant Nutrition, one thing that has become clear is that those who choose to breast-feed are different from those choosing to bottle-feed.”