The news has been full of stories about new breastfeeding research lately. Below are a few studies of note, and many more can be found here.
Breastfeeding may reduce childhood obesity risk. Researchers at Temple University found that breastfeeding may reduce obesity risk, perhaps due to behavioral factors. The authors "found breastfed children could more easily determine when they were full. Children who were bottle-fed with pumped breast milk were less likely to respond to the feeling of being full by the time they were preschool-aged. Also, children who had a lower response to fullness had a higher body mass index."
Breastfed children are reported to have fewer behavioral problems. A study from Massachusetts General Hospital found that "parents of youngsters who were breast-fed as infants were less likely to report that their child had a behavior problem or psychiatric illness during the first five years of life."
Breastfeeding reduces asthma risk. A British research team found that breastfeeding "lowers the incidence of allergic disorders, and that children breast fed from 4-9 months had a significantly lower risk of asthma." The authors found that "those breast fed up to 7-9 months had lower instances of persistence wheezing and coughing."
Traumatic birth experience has an impact on breastfeeding. A University of Connecticut researcher found that "the impact of birth trauma can lead new mothers down two strikingly different paths with regard to breastfeeding. For some, the trauma propels them into persevering in breastfeeding to prove their “success” as a mother and perhaps to make up to their infant for the difficult birth."
Researchers identify how breastfeeding transfers immunity. A Brigham Young University research team has identified a molecule that makes antibodies, which usually circulate throughout mothers' bodies, take the "off ramp" to transfer to the breast so that they can transfer into breastmilk. Until this study, "scientists did not know how the mother’s body signaled the antibody-producing cells to take the different off-ramp. The new study identifies the molecule that gives them the green light."
And while this isn't related to research, I did want to note another item in the news: The Navajo Nation recently approved legislation which would require that employers provide time and space for nursing mothers to pump at work.
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