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Gynecology. Not Breastfeeding Increases Risk Few people realise
that breastfeeding also reduces mothers' risk of developing type
2 diabetes;©Hermera "We have seen dramatic increases in the
prevalence of type 2 diabetes over the last century," said
Doctor Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, assistant professor of medicine,
epidemiology, and obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive
sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. "Diet and exercise are
widely known to impact the risk of type 2 diabetes, but few
people realise that breastfeeding also reduces mothers' risk of
developing the disease later in life by decreasing maternal
belly fat." The study included 2,233 women between the ages of
40 and 78. Overall, 56 percent of mothers reported they had
breastfed an infant for at least one month. Twenty-seven percent
of mothers who did not breastfeed developed type 2 diabetes and
were almost twice as likely to develop the disease as women who
had breastfed or never given birth.