A new study suggests that toddlers who get breastfeed for any amount of time typically get decreased blood pressure than those who didn’t get breastfed at all. Like many others of its kind, the study suggests that breastfeeding is the best for a toddler’s health.
The decrease in blood pressure discovered in the study “is of clinically important magnitude and surprising,” according to Dr Lori Feldman-Winter.
Feldman-Winter, who was not part of the study, is the head of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding.
Feldman-Winter, a professor of paediatrics at Rowan University’s Cooper Medical School, said:
“I may have expected a difference to be apparent just prior to or during adolescence, but the fact that these differences were seen as early as three years of age indicates that breastfeeding participates in metabolic programming that spans the life cycle.”
Former research suggests that extended breastfeeding between six and twelve months decrease infants’ risk of diabetes, obesity, gastrointestinal infections, and other complications, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Additionally, breastfeeding is also linked to decreasing the mother’s risk of some types of cancers, diabetes, and increased blood pressure.
The study shows that the benefits are proportional to the amount of time a woman spends breastfeeding in relation to protecting from infections and asthma.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that women should breastfeed their toddlers exclusively for the first six months and then continue with complementary foods like infant cereals, vegetables, fruits, and so on.
The World Health Organization suggests the same approach for the first six months, and complementary foods should be provided for up to two years of age or even longer.
