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24/05/2005
Breastfeeding benefits blood pressure
Breastfeeding is as good for children’s blood pressure as exercise and reducing salt intake, new research has claimed.
Scientists at Bristol University, led by Dr Debbie Lawlor, researched the impact of breastfeeding on elements of the metabolic syndrome in over 2,000 randomly chosen children, aged between 9 and 15, from Denmark and Estonia.
The metabolic syndrome comprises a group of conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high triglyceride levels, which predispose to a high risk of coronary artery disease.
The research team found that breastfeeding did not have an impact on all elements of the metabolic syndrome, but found that children who had been exclusively breastfed had lower systolic blood pressure (the maximum arterial pressure during contraction of the heart and the first number given in any blood pressure reading) than those who had not.
The team found that this was the same for children from both countries, regardless of other different social, cultural and dietary factors.
After adjusting other factors that could influence the results – such as height, weight and puberty – the scientists found that the average between children who had been exclusively breastfed for six months and those who had not was 1.7mm Hg.
The team found that the longer a child had been exclusively breastfed, the lower their systolic blood pressure was. They also reported that the effect might also increase, as a child gets older, because the greatest impact was seen in the results of the older children. However, the scientists admitted that these figures were “not statistically significant.”
However, in the report, which is published in the ‘Archives of Disease in Childhood’, the researchers concluded that breastfeeding is directly related to lower systolic blood pressure.
The report said: “The magnitude of the effect we found with blood pressure is comparable to the published effects of salt restriction and physical activity on blood pressure in adult populations, suggesting that it is of public health importance.”
(KMcA/SP)
Scientists at Bristol University, led by Dr Debbie Lawlor, researched the impact of breastfeeding on elements of the metabolic syndrome in over 2,000 randomly chosen children, aged between 9 and 15, from Denmark and Estonia.
The metabolic syndrome comprises a group of conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high triglyceride levels, which predispose to a high risk of coronary artery disease.
The research team found that breastfeeding did not have an impact on all elements of the metabolic syndrome, but found that children who had been exclusively breastfed had lower systolic blood pressure (the maximum arterial pressure during contraction of the heart and the first number given in any blood pressure reading) than those who had not.
The team found that this was the same for children from both countries, regardless of other different social, cultural and dietary factors.
After adjusting other factors that could influence the results – such as height, weight and puberty – the scientists found that the average between children who had been exclusively breastfed for six months and those who had not was 1.7mm Hg.
The team found that the longer a child had been exclusively breastfed, the lower their systolic blood pressure was. They also reported that the effect might also increase, as a child gets older, because the greatest impact was seen in the results of the older children. However, the scientists admitted that these figures were “not statistically significant.”
However, in the report, which is published in the ‘Archives of Disease in Childhood’, the researchers concluded that breastfeeding is directly related to lower systolic blood pressure.
The report said: “The magnitude of the effect we found with blood pressure is comparable to the published effects of salt restriction and physical activity on blood pressure in adult populations, suggesting that it is of public health importance.”
(KMcA/SP)
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