Lactation May Lower Diabetes Risk

A multicenter, community-based 30-year prospective cohort study in the US revealed that lactation duration is independently associated with lower incidence of diabetes. The study included 1238 black and white women ages 18 to 30 years without diabetes at baseline (1985-1986) who had 1 or more live births after baseline, reported lactation duration, and were screened for diabetes up to 7 times during 30 years after baseline (1986-2016). There were 182 incident diabetes cases during 27 598 person-years for an overall incidence rate of 6.6 cases per 1000 person-years; and rates for women with and without gestational diabetes were 18.0 and 5.1, respectively. Lactation duration showed a strong, graded inverse association with diabetes incidence: adjusted relative hazards for more than 0 to 6 months, 0.75; more than 6 months to less than 12 months, 0.52, and 12 months or more 0.53 vs none (0 days). There was no evidence of effect modification by race, gestational diabetes, or parity. The findings are consistent with previous studies and suggest that lactation is a natural biological process with the potential to provide long-term benefits to maternal health. Source: https://jamanetwork.com/