A Chinese review of ten trials covering 1,624 infants found no difference in hepatitis B infection between breastfed babies who received proper immunoprophylaxis and non-breastfed babies. By one diagnostic measure, breastfed infants were 14 percent less likely to acquire the virus.
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Food
Breastfeeding prevents asthma-related symptoms
Among more than 5,000 Dutch children followed to age four, those never breastfed were about 1.4 and 1.5 times more likely to wheeze or have persistent phlegm than children breastfed for six months. Early solids or other milk also tracked with more asthma-related symptoms.
Food
Breastfeeding may help prevent SIDS
A meta-analysis of 18 case-control studies, drawn from 288 papers identified in the literature, found breastfeeding associated with lower SIDS risk, with a stronger association for exclusive breastfeeding. The authors say breastfeeding belongs in SIDS risk-reduction advice.
Lifestyle
Breastfed children have stronger cardiovascular system?
Among 306 five-year-olds, those exclusively breastfed for three to six months had carotid intima-media thickness 21 micrometers greater than formula-fed children. Shorter or longer breastfeeding matched formula feeding, and carotid stiffness did not differ between the groups.
Lifestyle
Breastfed babies not bothered by pacifiers
A Cochrane review pooling two trials with 1,302 mothers highly motivated to breastfeed found that permission to use pacifiers made no significant difference in exclusive or partial breastfeeding at three and four months, whether offered from birth or later.
Government
Surgeon General's "Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding"
Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin issued a Call to Action listing 20 steps families, communities, clinicians, employers and policymakers can take to support breastfeeding. In the U.S., 75 percent of mothers start out breastfeeding but only 13 percent still do exclusively at six months.
Lifestyle
Breastfeeding Report Card—United States, 2010
The CDC's state-by-state Breastfeeding Report Card finds three of every four new U.S. mothers now start out breastfeeding, meeting the Healthy People 2010 initiation goal. Breastfeeding at 6 and 12 months and exclusive breastfeeding remain low and flat.
Lifestyle
Breastfeeding may protect women who survive childhood cancer
Reviewing existing research, St. Jude investigators found breastfeeding may favorably affect bone mineral density, metabolic syndrome risk factors, cardiovascular disease and secondary cancers in women who survived childhood cancer, and urge that those able to breastfeed be encouraged to.
Nutrition
When do breastfeeding moms introduce solid foods?
Writing in the BMJ, Mary Fewtrell and colleagues argue the WHO's six-month exclusive breastfeeding recommendation should be reconsidered and solids introduced earlier, citing evidence on iron deficiency, energy needs, and late exposure to solids and allergy.
Disease
Pink News: Reproductive factors linked to breast cancer
An Iranian case-control study of 100 patients and 200 controls found later first pregnancy and abortion accompanying 310 and 193 percent higher breast cancer risk, while five or more births went with 91 percent lower risk. A Sri Lankan study tied longer breastfeeding to lower risk.
Nutrition
Infant formula recall - update
The FDA says Abbott's recall now covers about 5 million containers of Similac powdered formula, including Isomil and Go & Grow, over possible beetle and larvae contamination. The agency sees no immediate risk but tells parents to seek care if babies get an upset stomach or refuse food.
Obesity
CDC: More Babies Being Breastfed
The CDC reports 75 percent of babies born in 2007 were breastfed, meeting the Healthy People 2010 goal, while the 6-month (43 percent) and 12-month (22 percent) rates fell short. A CDC-funded meta-analysis tied each month of breastfeeding to a 4 percent lower pediatric obesity rate.
Nutrition
75% New Moms Try Breastfeeding
The CDC's 2010 Breastfeeding Report Card shows 75% of babies, more than 3 million, started out breastfed, but only 43% of those born in 2007 were still breastfed at six months. Oregon led with 62% at six months; Louisiana trailed at 20%.
Cancer
Breastfeeding Benefits Abound
A study of 2,200 women aged 40 to 78 found those who never breastfed were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes as those who did. Lead author Eleanor Bimla Schwarz attributes the difference to breastfeeding reducing maternal belly fat, a known diabetes risk factor.
Diabetes
Breastfeeding cuts risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus
Among 2,233 women aged 40 to 78, those who never breastfed were almost twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes as those who breastfed at least a month, with 27 percent of the non-breastfeeding group affected. Researchers point to belly fat as a possible link.
Nutrition
Breastfeeding and Vitamin D Overdose
The FDA warns that infants should not exceed the recommended 400 IU of vitamin D a day and tells caregivers to use only the dropper packaged with the product. Overdose can cause nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, excessive thirst, constipation and muscle weakness.
Lifestyle
Obese women less likely to breastfeed their babies
Analyzing 2,846 black and 3,517 white women surveyed from 2000 to 2005, researchers found 67.2% of white women breastfed versus 41.2% of black women, and white women nursed longer. Among white women, the odds of starting fell as BMI rose; the link was not significant among black women.
Lifestyle
Low breast feeding numbers "pathetic," say doctors
CDC figures show almost 74 percent of US women breast-fed in the days after birth in 2005, but only 12.3 percent did so exclusively for six months. Doctors call those numbers pathetic and the CDC plans a Call to Action; advocates blame formula marketing, while officials say the causes run deeper.
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