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Diabetes risk increased in mothers who breast-feed less than 1 month

Schwarz EB. Am J Med. 2010;doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2010.03.016.

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Mothers who did not exclusively breast-feed their children for at least 1 month were at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life when compared with women who breast-fed for a longer duration, according to new findings from the Reproductive Risk Factors for Incontinence Study.

According to the results, 27% of mothers who did not breast-feed subsequently developed type 2 diabetes compared with mothers who breast-fed or women who did not give birth.

“Few people realize that breast-feeding also reduces mothers’ risk of developing the disease later on in life by decreasing maternal belly fat,” Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology, and obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, said in a press release.

Schwarz and colleagues pooled data on 2,233 women aged 40 to 78 years during 2003 and 2008. More than half (56%) reported breast-feeding an infant for at least 1 month. The researchers assessed associations between duration, exclusivity and consistency of lactation and the subsequent risk for type 2 diabetes.

Women who breast-fed all of their children were no more likely to develop type 2 diabetes when compared with women who never gave birth (OR=1.01; 95% CI, 0.56-1.81). Conversely, women who reported never breast-feeding were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes vs. women who never gave birth (OR=1.92; 95% CI, 1.14-3.27).

In addition, compared with women who exclusively breast-fed for 1 to 3 months, those who did not exclusively breast-feed were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes (OR=1.52; 95% CI, 1.11-2.10).

“Our study provides another good reason to encourage women to breast-feed their infants, at least for the infant’s first month of life,” Schwarz said. “Clinicians need to consider women’s pregnancy and lactation history when advising women about their risk for developing type 2 diabetes.”

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