Linking Limited Lactation to Risk for Diabetes

Several retrospective studies have shown that, among parous women, risk for diabetes is reduced in association with breast-feeding (e.g., NEJM Journal Watch Womens Health Dec 2016 and Obstet Gynecol 2016 Nov; 128:1095). Building on this work, researchers analyzed prospective community-based data collected from 1238 U.S. women who gave birth at least once.

Median duration of lactation was 1.4 months among mothers who developed diabetes versus 4.4 months among those who did not develop the condition (P<0.001).

Compared with mothers who breast-fed for at least 12 months, those who never breast-fed had 89% higher risk for incident diabetes in models adjusted for race, parity, gestational diabetes, family history of diabetes, diet, physical activi…