breastfeeding for 6 months may protect children from liver disease

some books in our collection on breast feeding

Contributing further to the debate on the importance of breast feeding for at least for 6 months Jaleesa Baulkman highlights that a research present at a recent international congress on liver disease discovered that the 6 months period contributes to better protection for children.

 

"Breastfeeding has been linked to many health benefits in infants which may now include a reduced risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in adolescence, according to research presented at the International Liver Congress 2016 in Spain this week.
The researchers found that breastfeeding for at least six months reduced the risk of an infant developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in adolescence by a third compared to those who were fed less than six months. In addition to breastfeeding, Australian researchers found that pre-pregnancy BMI (body mass index),  a measure of body fat and general health, also was linked to a child’s risk of developing the disease. Mothers whose BMI fell within a normal range — between 18.5 and 24.9 — reduced an infant’s risk of developing the liver disease by a half compared to those whose mothers didn't.
Gastroenterologist Dr. Brian J. DeBosch told Medical Daily that the findings are in tune with previous studies that have observed a link between a mother’s metabolic health and the health outcomes of their children, including the development of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. DeBosch was not involved in the study.
They were investigating the association between adolescent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, maternal factors and infant nutrition. He study emanated from data from  the Raine Study.

Interestingly, while the protective effect of breastfeeding appeared to kick in after six months, breastfeeding for more than nine months didn't further reduce the odds of developing it.

DeBosch said the findings demonstrate that “optimizing maternal health before and during gestation is an important health measure for both mother and child alike.” He added that they also lend support to “the growing notion that there are environmental, genetic and epigenetic components to metabolic disease.”
Laurent Castera, secretary general of the European Association for the Study of The Liver, the organization hosting the International Liver Congress, agreed that the study’s findings enhance the understanding of what risk factors contribute to the development of  non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in teenagers. He added that the results “demonstrate the importance of proper infant nutrition and the benefit of exclusive and extended breastfeeding for six months."
Previous studies have found that breast milk may influence the risk of obesity in children and can lower the risk of childhood leukemia.

extracted from 
 http://www.medicaldaily.com/non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease-bmi-breastfeeding-381592

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