Breastfeeding lowers leukaemia risk, say experts

BABIES breastfed for at least six months had a 19 per cent lower risk of going on to develop leukaemia in childhood than those who were breastfed for a shorter period or not at all, research found.

Scientists said they made the findings after reviewing 18 different studies, while a separate analysis of 15 studies found that ever being breastfed compared with never being breastfed was associated with an 11 per cent lower risk of childhood leukaemia.

The researchers, at the Univer- sity of Haifa in Israel, suggested more should be done to educate women on the health benefits of breastfeeding, while there should also be efforts to make it easier for women to do it in public.

Leukaemia is the most common cancer diagnosed in childhood and accounts for about 30 per cent of all childhood cancers, but little is known about its cause.

Breastfeeding is recommended by the NHS as the healthiest option for feeding babies up to the age of six months, but many parents feed with formula instead. The number of women who breastfeed in the UK is increasing, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), with 55 per cent breastfeeding at six weeks and 34 per cent at six months, but younger mothers and those living in areas of higher deprivation are least likely to breastfeed.

The research is published online in Jama Pediatrics, with the study authors suggesting several biological mechanisms of breast milk may explain their results, including that it contains many immunologically active components and antiinflammatory defence mechanisms that influence the development of an infant’s immune system.

Dr Colin Michie, chairman of the RCPCH’s Nutrition Committee, welcomed the findings.

He said: “The benefits of breastfeeding to populations of children are well established.

“So this latest development is not only a very important discovery, but further adds weight to the benefits of breastfeeding.”