A study examined the association between method of infant feeding in the
first weeks after birth and glucose tolerance, plasma lipid profile, blood
pressure and body mass in adults aged 48-53. Subjects were born at term
between November 1943 and February 1947 in a hospital in Amsterdam around
the time of a severe period of famine. For 625 subjects, information was
available about infant feeding at the time of discharge from hospital
(average of 10.4 days after birth) and at least one blood sample after an
overnight fast.
Subjects who had been bottle fed had a higher mean 120 minute plasma
glucose concentration after a standard oral glucose tolerance test than
those who were exclusively breastfed. They also had a higher plasma low
density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration, a lower high density
lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration, and a higher LDL/HDL ration.
Systolic blood pressure and body mass index were not affected by the method
of infant feeding.
The study concluded that exclusive breastfeeding seems to have a protective
effect against some risk factors for cardiovascular disease in later life.
-Arch Dis Child 2000; 82
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 2 Issue 9 March 3, 2000)
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