I haven't been around much lately.. been getting the baby's room ready, but I came across this article and thought I'd share it with you all. I know there are several other mommies to be on VB right now along with me. :D



TUESDAY, Feb. 3 (HealthDayNews) — The longer women breastfeed their babies, the less likely the children are to become overweight, a new study says.

That's true, at least, for non-Hispanic white children. Breastfeeding did not protect against excessive weight gain in some black and Hispanic children, the U.S. researchers add.

The study, appearing in the February issue of Pediatrics, provides the most conclusive evidence to date that prolonged breastfeeding can help reduce the risk of obesity.

"There are continued benefits to continuing breastfeeding," says study author Laurence Grummer-Strawn, chief of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Maternal and Child Nutrition Branch.

The CDC researchers based their conclusions on an analysis of 177,304 children up to 5 years old, and a subset of 12,587 mother-child pairs, making it the largest breastfeeding study to date. Previous studies have yielded contradictory results.

By highlighting a key benefit of prolonged breastfeeding, the study also bolsters recommendations that mothers breastfeed their babies for at least a full year. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for one, encourages breastfeeding for at least 12 months to provide the fullest benefits for baby.

"If you breastfeed your babies, your children are more likely to have a reduction in illness, and one of those is obesity," says Dr. Lawrence Gartner, chairman of an American Academy of Pediatrics' panel on breastfeeding.

Obesity has become a worrisome problem in the United States. An estimated 15 percent of children and teens aged 6 to 19 are overweight, according to a 1999-2000 federal survey. The growing girth of America's youth poses serious health consequences, placing kids at higher risk of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.

To examine the possible connection between prolonged breastfeeding and reduced risk of overweight, the CDC researchers looked at information from the Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System. This survey captures data from children seen at public health clinics across the United States.

The team examined how long children nursed and their body mass index (BMI) — a measure of weight in relation to height — at 4 years of age. Children with a BMI that topped the 95th percentile for their age were considered overweight.

More than two thirds of children in the study — 71.1 percent — were never breastfed, and only 6.1 percent were breastfed for six months or more.

Kids who were never breastfed or who were breastfed for less than one month were most likely to be overweight at age 4, the study found. With increased breastfeeding duration, the rate of overweight kids declined.

For example, 13.6 percent of those who were never breastfed and 13.7 of those who were breastfed less than a month were overweight at age 4. By contrast, among those who were breastfed for more than 12 months, 11 percent were overweight.

Breastfed children were also less likely to be underweight, the study found.

Mothers-to-be might be asking themselves why the big fuss over a couple percentage-points difference between prevalence of overweight among bottle-fed kids and those who were breastfed more than a year.

"It is a small difference," Grummer-Strawn admits, but it is significant. "What we're talking about is 'What are the things we can do to prevent obesity?'" he says. Breastfeeding is clearly one of those things.

How long-term breastfeeding protects against obesity isn't clear, although studies suggest several possible explanations. One is that a breastfed child can self-regulate his or her caloric intake better than a bottle-fed child, whose parents may insist the baby finish off a pre-measured amount of formula.

Breastfeeding, of course, is only one factor influencing a child's risk of obesity. The study authors note that Hispanic children are nearly twice as likely to become overweight as non-Hispanic children "probably because of different dietary and physical activity patterns."

Parents' introduction of solid foods or exclusive reliance on breastfeeding may also differ along racial and ethic lines. For example, many Hispanic mothers combine breastfeeding with bottle feeding, and that may explain the weaker effect of breastfeeding in that group, Gartner says.

Still confused about whether to breast or bottle feed? For many moms, this study seems to provide another piece of evidence that the breast is best for baby.

"You can't beat Mother Nature," Gartner quips.

-- Karen Pallarito, HealthDay News

That is, of course, assuming that obesity is bad. I'm all for breastfeeding, but if the sole motivation is "I don't want my kid to look like THAT person", I'd question it. Far be it for me to tell my child, "You have to weigh less than 120 lbs because I breastfed you 15 years ago" or something equally ridiculous. I think breastfeeding can be a great thing because of other basises (sp?), not because it'll prevent my child's natural body type. :p

It is also not necessarily true. Mine (babies/toddlers) were always described as "solid". Twenty-seven years later there is no difference in their fight for weight control compared to other men their age.

It was said (when my children were infants) that breast fed babies would be better lovers later in life. I cannot confirm or deny that one, but hey, why not give them a running start?

Thanks for the article. There are so many good reasons to breastfeed -- I definitely plan on breastfeeding my little girl when she arrives in June. If anyone wants information on breastfeeding, go to http://www.lalecheleague.org/.

I'm with Skylark and Kamila - I've got two kids, both of whom were breastfed. One is as skinny as a rake, the other is definitely on the solid side. And the solid one is more active. I think we can't change the natural shape they are going to be. One takes after me, one takes after his dad, and there isn't a lot I can do about that.

xxA

There is a difference between solid and obese.

breastfeeding is the way to go...gives the kids a headstart with lots of disease anti-bodies, and I think I've read somewhere that it can help prevent allergies of some type...plus there's nothing more natural

There is a difference between solid and obese.

I'd agree with that.
There's so many factors involved with what goes on today. That would be a tough study to carry out with all the variables.
Still, I wonder if the study holds true, what correlation it has with the fact that most kids are in day care from a very eary age as opposed to thirty or fourty years ago?
I look at the kids in school today and I see a lot of fat kids. Not large but fat and out of shape. Low activity and crummy food probably has a lot to do with it.

Jeffer

P.S. Kamila :hi:

Jeffer - I don't think that day care is the blame. I blame TV, video games, and that most people live in cities and not on farms (farm kids are usually more in shape then the city kids b/c they have more physical chores to do).

Jeffer - I don't think that day care is the blame. I blame TV, video games, and that most people live in cities and not on farms (farm kids are usually more in shape then the city kids b/c they have more physical chores to do).

I agree. I don't mean the daycare its self but what I meant was that the children in daycare (in the US anyway) at two or three months of age, keeping up with breast feeding and the inconvenience of work hours, etc, might mean that the breast feeding ends, thus the correlation to the study?

One of the best things to have happened is that Canada now has a year of maternity leave available.

Jeffer

Perhaps. However, some women cannot or do not want to breast feed, even they stay at home w/ the child, so we can't totally blame the requirement of going back to work.

Sidenote: Having been adopted myself, the "breast is best" campaign annoys me, as well as others who were adopted or have adopted children (not to mention the women who physically or emotionally unable to breastfeed or children who are too ill to be breastfed).

Cost and convenience were the two major factors why our kids were breast fed for about a year.
Formula is expensive and if available, you can't beat the convenience of a boob.

Jeffer

True. You don't need to carry around a litre of milk in your backpack. It's all on your chest

Ease of preperation and clean up were deciding factors for me. It was so easy to get a warm meal ready for my hungry right now babie when I was in a icy tent in the fall..... Dont ask.

Kamila
Hey Jeffer!

Kamilla - I would assume breastfeeding means less dishes. And that is always a good thing in my books :D

I breast fed my daughter until she was one month away from turning 2. I chose this route for several reasons, 1) for the closeness it gave me with my daughter 2) for the convenience 3) for cost 4) for the added antibodies that it gives your child. My husband suffered from ear problems from childhood to current and I read that breast feeding might possibly help infants avoid ear infections. In my daughter's case, she is now 7 and has only had one ear infection her entire life. She also has had very few colds, etc. On the other hand, my child has always been solid in size. Now, thanks to tv, computers and city life, she is a wee-bit over weight. Personally, breastfeeding is a great thing and I'm all for it, but I'm not convinced that it has anything to do with what size you become as you grow into adulthood. But hey...just my own personal opinion.

Perhaps. However, some women cannot or do not want to breast feed, even they stay at home w/ the child, so we can't totally blame the requirement of going back to work.

Sidenote: Having been adopted myself, the "breast is best" campaign annoys me, as well as others who were adopted or have adopted children (not to mention the women who physically or emotionally unable to breastfeed or children who are too ill to be breastfed).

But breast IS best. We don't have to ignore the fact that formula is needed, and provides a welcome and wonderful alternative should it be needed. Lets not pretend though that breastmilk isn't the best option available for most babies.
When we don't inform people that breast is best then we are more likely to have women choosing to bottle feed their babies despite the health benefits of breastfeeding because they don't think that there is a difference. Many people still think that formula is as good as breastmilk, but it simply isn't.
Of course the choice to formula feed should be there, but imo we shouldn't stop the campaigning to provide breastfeeding awareness and information simply to avoid upsetting someone who has to or chooses to formula feed.

Considering the numbers of us that grew up on formula, it isn't that bad either.

To give an example of what I mean, a co-worker (she has 2 children now) was having her first child. She was going to breastfeed. Instead, there wasn't enough milk, according to the doctor; her baby was getting sick b/c of it. The nurses took down her little "I love my baby, that's why I breastfeed" sign off the crib and the LLL would come by and make her feel so bad about her not trying harder to breastfed. They told her the not enough milk was just an excuse and she could breastfeed if she really wanted to.

I've visited friends in the hospital and have seen those signs. I've also seen the LLL reps taunting the mothers who aren't breastfeeding. Frankly, it disgusts me. I don't mind them helping mothers breastfeed who want to (or can), but leave the other mothers alone.

Considering the numbers of us that grew up on formula, it isn't that bad either.

To give an example of what I mean, a co-worker (she has 2 children now) was having her first child. She was going to breastfeed. Instead, there wasn't enough milk, according to the doctor; her baby was getting sick b/c of it. The nurses took down her little "I love my baby, that's why I breastfeed" sign off the crib and the LLL would come by and make her feel so bad about her not trying harder to breastfed. They told her the not enough milk was just an excuse and she could breastfeed if she really wanted to.

I've visited friends in the hospital and have seen those signs. I've also seen the LLL reps taunting the mothers who aren't breastfeeding. Frankly, it disgusts me. I don't mind them helping mothers breastfeed who want to (or can), but leave the other mothers alone.

Yes i can totally agree with you that it's wrong to harass, belittle or make a mother feel like a failure for her choice. My mother didn't breastfeed us and she's an awesome mother, loves us like crazy :smitten: . There is still an awful lot of misinformation about breastfeeding, which is imo the reason so many people fail. we have also lost whole generations of breastfeeding mothers which in turn means a loss of a valuable support group for todays mothers.
On a side note, at 4 weeks i was told i didn't have enough milk by a health visitor. As a more experianced mother i now recognize that to have been a growth spurt of a very hungry baby. Second time round i did my own research and was upset to find out how misinformed i was by doctors and health visitors who had very outdated views on breastfeeding.
I also found myself on the recieving end of pressure NOT to breastfeed, or to supplement because my second baby was a big chub. So it works both ways.

I remember once reading an article in Vegetarian Times about how the baby formula companies pass out tons of free samples to women in hospitals leaving with their newborns. It is a pretty under-handed marketing tactic. Many women assume since they are getting this stuff from the hospital, it is "best" for their babies and by the time their free samples run out, their natural breast milk has already dried up. So many poor women especially are stuck buying this high-priced formula when they could have had a free option to feed their babies.

I see nothing wrong with organizations encouraging breast-feeding, especially since they have to compete with baby formula companies who market their wares in hospitals.

It reminds me of how the dairy industry has used our public schools to promote their products and how it is nearly impossible for other opinions questioning dairy to be heard.

I remember once reading an article in Vegetarian Times about how the baby formula companies pass out tons of free samples to women in hospitals leaving with their newborns. It is a pretty under-handed marketing tactic. Many women assume since they are getting this stuff from the hospital, it is "best" for their babies and by the time their free samples run out, their natural breast milk has already dried up. So many poor women especially are stuck buying this high-priced formula when they could have had a free option to feed their babies.

I see nothing wrong with organizations encouraging breast-feeding, especially since they have to compete with baby formula companies who market their wares in hospitals.

It reminds me of how the dairy industry has used our public schools to promote their products and how it is nearly impossible for other opinions questioning dairy to be heard.
Some formula companies are extremely shady in their advertising tactics especially in countries where they aren't lucky enough to be able to afford formula once the free samples and their breastmilk dry up, and where unclean water mixed with formula kills babies. One of the reasons why i don't eat nestle'.

LOL, my daughter had colic, and wanted to nurse all the time. My husband (at the time) was stationed five states away, and after about four weeks of constant crying and screaming (only some of it my daughter's), I felt that though I had given it a valiant effort, it was obviously NOT working for us (breastfeeding). It seemed like I really couldn't produce the amount of milk she needed or something. It just was not working out. So I switched to soy formula and never looked back.

I do admire women who do it for a year though. I think that's awesome. I just couldn't hack it emotionally or physically.

B

My mom breast-fed my sister for close to two years. But she said when I was about 3 months old one day I just spit it out like it was gross and wouldn't nurse anymore. [I guess I've always been difficult. :) ] It's probably something that the mother is eating perhaps that the baby doesn't like the taste of-- you never know.

Still even if you only nurse for a very short time, I think it is still important to do at least initially in order to pass on your immunities to your baby. Even though I was only breast-fed for a very short time, I was still extremely healthy, as much as I my sister who breastfed for a lot longer.

[My youngest daughter breastfed for close two yrs, and the pressure to stop was immense. People told me out and out she was too old, and it was gross. :mad: In the end she weaned herself not too long ago. she still loves my boobs though.

[My youngest daughter breastfed for close two yrs, and the pressure to stop was immense. People told me out and out she was too old, and it was gross. :mad: In the end she weaned herself not too long ago. she still loves my boobs though.

I remember being told my child was too old to nurse, too. Thank goodness the majority of people in my congregation were supportive with my decision to breast feed until she was close to two. I, personally, enjoyed breastfeeding and found that it was like a time of bonding between me and my daughter. Of course, thanks to her dad who taught her to yell "boobie!" whenever she wanted to nurse, I HAD to give up the nursing. I will never forget one of the last times we did nurse...I was sitting in a bible meeting and it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. All of a sudden, my daughter begins to unbutton my blouse and yells at the top of her lungs "Boobie!" and well.....that was all she wrote!