A study published on Feb. 25 2011 in the journal Diabetes Care reports that women who had diabetes during pregnancy can avoid having their baby become obese by breastfeeding. Researchers found that of the babies whose mothers had diabetes, if they were breastfed for six months or more, they were no more likely to become obese between the ages of 6 and 13 than were the babies of mothers who did not have diabetes. This result was not the same for babies breastfed less than six months.
The American Diabetes Association released a news release about the study. According to Dr. Dana Dabelea, Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, and lead researcher on the study, “Our data suggest that breastfeeding promotion may be an effective strategy for reducing the increased risk of childhood obesity in offspring of mothers with diabetes during pregnancy.”
For more information about the study check out the following article
