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Longer breastfeeding had a protective effect for metabolic syndrome
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Mothers who breastfeed their children were less likely to develop metabolic syndrome, and the effect was more pronounced the longer breastfeeding continued, according to results of the CARDIA study.
Researchers said breastfeeding lowered the risk for metabolic syndrome by 39% to 56% for women with gestational diabetes and 44% to 86% for women without gestational diabetes.
CARDIA included 704 women aged 18 to 30 years. At baseline, these women had never given birth and were free of metabolic syndrome.
During 20 years of follow-up, researchers reported 120 new cases of metabolic syndrome after pregnancies. The overall incidence rate for metabolic syndrome was 22.1 per 1,000 person-years for women with gestational diabetes compared with 10.8 per 1,000 person-years for women without gestational diabetes.
When evaluating women by duration of lactation, the researchers determined that women who breastfed longer had lower incidence rates of metabolic syndrome. The protective effect was stronger among women who had gestational diabetes (relative hazard=0.14-0.56; P=.03) compared with those who did not (relative hazard=0.44-0.61; P=.03).
“The findings indicate that breastfeeding a child may have lasting favorable effects on a woman’s risk factors for later developing diabetes or heart disease,” Erica Gunderson, PhD, epidemiologist and research scientist in the division of research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, said in a press release.
She added that the beneficial effect of breastfeeding did not appear to be associated with health behaviors such as differences in weight gain or physical activity. However, women who did not develop metabolic syndrome tended to have less abdominal fat and higher levels of HDL cholesterol.
Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the 20-year CARDIA study is the first to measure all components of metabolic syndrome both before pregnancy and after weaning in women of childbearing age, enabling researchers to examine breastfeeding in relation to new onset of metabolic syndrome, according to Gunderson.
Gunderson EP. Diabetes. 2009;doi:10.2337/db09-1197.
In the case of lactation, women burn an extra 500 calories per day during breastfeeding so, obviously, unless women eat a lot more during this time, they will lose weight faster and be less prone to metabolic syndrome.
- George Bakris, MD
Endocrine Today Editorial Board member