Why breast is best when it comes to cutting risk of child leukaemia

BABIES who are breastfed may have a lower risk of developing childhood leukaemia, a study suggests.

Infants fed breast milk for at least six months are 19 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with the cancer than bottle-fed babies.

Leukaemia is the most common cancer among children, accounting for about 30 per cent of all childhood cases of the disease.

Breastfeeding is recommended by the NHS as the healthiest option for babies up to six months old, and the number of women who follow that advice is growing.

But some 45 per cent choose to bottle-feed their children from the age of six weeks and 66 per cent at six months.

The researchers, at the University of Haifa in Israel, said the most likely reason why breast milk might help babies ward off leukaemia is the transfer of chemicals that boost the infants’ immune system.

Basing their findings on data from 18 studies around the world, the scientists wrote: ‘Because the primary goal of public health is prevention of morbidity, healthcare profes- sionals should be taught the potential health benefits of breastfeeding and given tools to assist mothers … The many potential preventive health benefits of breastfeeding should also be communicated openly to the general public … so breastfeeding can be more socially accepted and facilitated.’

Dr Colin Michie, of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: ‘Breastfed babies are less likely to contract chest and ear infections, suffer from sickness and diarrhoea or become obese. This latest development is not only a very important discovery but f urther adds weight to the benefits of breastfeeding.’

Previous studies have found that breastfeed- ing is linked to better school performance, a higher IQ and higher incomes in later life.

Janet Fyle, of the Royal College of Midwives, said: ‘This research underpins yet again why breastfeeding should be encouraged … It is without doubt one of the most positive ways for a woman to give her newborn the best possible start in life.

‘The important issue is to ensure that women have access to skilled advice and support to help them to initiate and sustain breastfeeding.’

Not all scientists were convinced about the study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Professor Chris Bunce, of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, said: ‘We do not want mothers who are unable to or choose not to breastfeed to worry.

‘Childhood leukaemia is thankfully very rare and evidence for the protective benefits of breastfeeding is not as clear-cut as suggested by this latest study.’

‘The best possible

start in life’