Breastfeeding may not protect babies against becoming overweight or obese children, according to a European study that included better than 10,000 mothers and babies.
“It's just a reality check that in itself, promoting breastfeeding, while a good thing that will have other health benefits, is unlikely to have any effects on stemming the obesity epidemic, according to lead author Richard Martin, from the University of Bristol in the UK.”
Past research suggested that babies who were breastfed were less likely to grow up to be obese
children, but those studies compared mothers who chose whether or not to breastfeed, so they and their children could have differed in other important ways, according to researchers.
Martin stated that over the years, his team's study has found fewer stomach infections and eczema and better thinking and memory skills among children that were in the breast-feeding promotion group.
Other researchers, though stated that they still felt that starting breastfeeding firstly can help ward off obesity.
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