Breast milk is full of the essential nutrients that your baby needs to grow and develop and will help to protect your baby from a range of illnesses. Infants who are breast fed for the first six months are generally healthier than those who are bottle fed. Not only does breastfeeding give your baby a good start in life, it has benefits that continue into childhood and adulthood.
Babies who are breast fed are less susceptible to chest, ear and gastrointestinal tract infections than bottle fed babies. When they do contract infections they tend to be less severe. Breast fed babies are also suffer less frequently from vomiting and diarrhea. Immune factors in breast milk (and particularly the first milk, colostrum), protect the infant’s mucous membranes from harmful bacteria and germs.
Breast milk helps babies to ward off allergic reactions. Antibodies in the mother’s milk known as immunoglobulins boost an infant’s immune system and neutralize foreign proteins. Breast fed babies are less likely than bottle fed ones to develop food allergies, asthma or eczema in childhood.
Breast fed babies gain weight more gradually and are less likely to become obese adults. Infants fed on breast milk produce less insulin, the hormone that causes us to store fat, and more leptin, the hormone that controls appetite, than those fed on formula. Bottle fed babies gain weight rapidly in the first few weeks and this tendency for rapid weight gain may continue throughout their lives.
Breastfeeding helps protect infants against developing type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes as children and type 2 (adult) diabetes later in life. Early introduction of cows milk into a baby’s diet is associated with an increased risk of type 1 diabetes. Mothers who have type 1 diabetes themselves are encouraged to breastfeed their children to provide them with some immunity against the disease. Adults who were breast fed as infants have lower insulin levels and are at lower risk for type 2 diabetes.
Babies who are breast fed have a lower risk of developing heart problems later in life. Research has shown that adults who were breast fed as infants tend to have a significantly lower body mass index and a higher level of HDL (good cholesterol) than adults who had been bottle fed. High BMI and low HDL are risk factors for heart disease.
Breastfeeding may increase intelligence. One study which followed 1000 children from birth to the age of 18 found that breastfeeding was associated with higher cognitive and academic ability. The fats and amino acids in breast milk play an important role in the development of the infant brain and nervous system.
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