WEDNESDAY, Sept. 4, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- A new study offers yet another good reason to breastfeed babies: It seems to help lower cholesterol levels later in life.
That's the conclusion of researchers from St. George's Hospital Medical School in London, writing in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics.
The research team studied more than 1,500 adolescents, measuring their current cholesterol levels and then asking parents how the teens were fed as infants. The team also reviewed 37 other studies evaluating infant feeding styles and blood cholesterol levels at various stages of life.
The cholesterol levels of breastfed infants were higher than bottle-fed babies, probably due to the high cholesterol content of breast milk compared to formula. The researchers also found no differences in total cholesterol levels in later childhood or teen years between breastfed and bottle-fed subjects.
But by adulthood, those who had been breastfeed had lower cholesterol levels, the researchers found. The differences were modest, averaging just under 10 milligrams per deciliter.
"A reduction in mean [total cholesterol] of this magnitude in adult life would be associated with a reduction in coronary heart disease of approximately 10 percent, based on observational data," the researchers say.
So how long should a baby be breastfed to help cholesterol levels later?
"The duration of breastfeeding required for reduction of adult cholesterol is uncertain," says Christopher G. Owen, an epidemiologist at St. George's and lead author of the study. "Other studies have suggested that breastfeeding for longer than three months may lower cholesterol, while breast feeding for longer than a year may elevate cholesterol in adult life."
Exactly how breastfeeding leads to lower cholesterol in adulthood also isn't certain. But the researchers suspect that early breastfeeding somehow improves fat metabolism later in life by triggering some sort of nutritional programming.
If this is the case, Owen says, "there is a strong argument for the content of formula feeds to match that of human milk."
High cholesterol levels are powerful but reversible risk factors for heart disease. Adults age 20 and older are advised to have their cholesterol levels measured at least once every five years, according to the National Cholesterol Education Program.
Total cholesterol levels should be less than 200 milligrams per deciliter. Low-density lipoproteins, the so-called bad cholesterol, are considered at optimal levels if less than 100 milligrams per deciliter. High-density lipoproteins, the so-called good cholesterol, should be above 60 milligrams per deciliter to help lower heart disease risk.
While heredity plays a role in how much cholesterol a person produces, paying attention to diet by limiting saturated fat and cholesterol in foods can improve the cholesterol profile. So can losing weight, if necessary, and becoming more physically active.
The new study highlighting the cholesterol-lowering benefit of breastfeeding will probably be news to most people, says Carol Huotari, a lactation consultant and manager for the Center for Breastfeeding Information at the La Leche League International, an organization that promotes breastfeeding.
She plans to post the news of the study on the organization's Web site, she says, to further impress on new parents all the benefits of breastfeeding.
Previous studies have found that breastfeeding a baby provides not only good nutrition, but a host of health benefits, including reduced risk of ear infections, allergies and other ailments.
The study by the St. George's researchers makes sense, Huotari adds.
It found that cholesterol levels of breastfed babies were higher than bottle-fed babies, but that's a good thing, she points out. "Infants need fatty acids" from the cholesterol to ensure the development of the brain, for instance, she says.
What To Do
For more information on breastfeeding, see the American Academy of Pediatrics. For cholesterol information, visit the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
