New Study Reveals New Facts About Breastfeeding

We are all aware of how healthy and incredible breast milk is for babies. Breastfeeding offers newborn antibodies that protect them against illnesses.

It loads their digestive system with beneficial bacteria and promotes healthy digestion (this is so important for premature babies, to protect them from necrotizing enterocolitis, which can be deadly). And any amount of breastfeeding protects babies against sudden infant death syndrome, SIDS.

According to the Academy of American Pediatrics (AAP), breastfeeding reduces the likelihood that a baby will be hospitalized with a respiratory infection, pneumonia, or meningitis. Your baby will be protected against ear infections, GI bugs, and UTIs as well.

If your baby is breastfeed for four months, they are less likely to acquire the allergies that run in your family, and are also less likely to exhibit allergic symptoms such as eczema or wheezing.

But what some don’t know is that the benefits of breastfeeding last way beyond those baby years. Yep, your big kid, tween, and even teen will benefit from all those sleepless nights you spent bleary-eyed and breastfeeding.

Of course, breastfeeding isn’t the only way to keep your child healthy, but it’s one of the best ways to do so. We know breastfeeding isn’t always easy, so knowing that all the hard work you are putting into it will keep your kid hearty for years is a good motivator.

According to a recent study published in Pediatrics, breastfeeding during the first three months of life was associated with lower cholesterol rates in teenagers, which also implies that breastfeeding can contribute to overall cardiovascular health as kids grow up. Nice!

”Exclusive breastfeeding in early infancy may promote a healthier lipid profile in late adolescence through mechanisms unrelated to adiposity, implicating its potential long-term benefits for cardiovascular health.”

Another study, led by the World Health Organization and published in Obesity Facts, showed that breastfeeding decreased a child’s overall risk toward obesity. In fact, the study found that breastfeeding cuts a child’s propensity toward obesity by up to 25%. Obesity is a growing problem virtually everywhere, any way to decrease your child’s risk is really important.

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Other studies found similar health benefits among older kids who were breastfed as babies. Breastfeeding decreased a child’s risk toward serious respiratory viruses throughout childhood, according to a study published in BMJ.

Another study from JAMA Pediatrics revealed that breastfeeding lowers your child’s risk of childhood leukemia by 9%, and that breastfeeding for at least six months lowers a child’s risk of leukemia by 14-20%, which is quite substantial.

As earlier said, breastfeeding isn’t the only way to provide long-term health benefits for your child. You can breastfeed your child for two years but feed them crap and encourage a sedentary lifestyle – or you can breastfeed your child for four months, but feed them wonderfully and encourage a healthy lifestyle. It’s definitely relative to some extent.

However, if you are willing and able to breastfeed (which is understandably not the case for everyone), you doing your child a good. You deserve to have and know this information, and to feel supported in your journey.