Significant health results are related to how babies are fed.
Here's why breastfeeding is important.
We have known for a long time that breastfeeding is important when it comes to health for both you and your baby and it's important for many reasons.
Breastfeeding is the normal way to feed babies. Normal, however, doesn’t always mean the most common way to feed babies, but it does mean that breastfeeding is the biological norm. So this is why the health results of any other way of feeding a baby have to be compared to breastfeeding.
-
The longer you exclusively breastfeed your baby within the first 6 months, the lower their health risks.
-
The longer you breastfeed all up, the lower the health risks for you and your baby.
The following are health outcomes where there is convincing scientific evidence. This list includes results from studies where partial and exclusive breastfeeding are included.
For each of the following, there is a dose-response relationship between breastfeeding and the health result. This means that the less breastfeeding, the higher the risks.
For baby, not being breastfed (or being breastfed for a shorter length of time), increases the risk of:
-
gastrointestinal infections
-
respiratory infections
-
ear infections
-
SIDS
-
necrotising enterocolitis in premature babies
-
sepsis in premature babies
-
leukaemia
-
dental malocclusions
-
overweight and obesity
-
lower IQ.
For mum, not breastfeeding, or breastfeeding for less time, increases the risks of:
-
breast cancer
-
ovarian cancer
-
type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure
-
heart disease and stroke
© Australian Breastfeeding Association February 2023
Amitay, E. L., & Keinan-Boker, L. (2015). Breastfeeding and childhood leukemia incidence: A meta-analysis and systematic review. JAMA Pediatrics, 169(6). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.1025
Babic, A., Sasamoto, N., Rosner, B. A., Tworoger, S. S., Jordan, S. J., Risch, H. A., Harris, H. R., Rossing, M. A., Doherty, J. A., Fortner, R. T., Chang-Claude, J., Goodman, M. T., Thompson, P. J., Moysich, K. B., Ness, R. B., Kjaer, S. K., Jensen, A., Schildkraut, J. M., Titus, L. J., … Terry, K. L. (2020). Association between breastfeeding and ovarian cancer risk. JAMA Oncology, 6(6), e200421–e200421. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.0421
Bowatte, G., Tham, R., Allen, K. J., Tan, D. J., Lau, M. X. Z., Dai, X., & Lodge, C. J. (2015). Breastfeeding and childhood acute otitis media: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Paediatrica, 104(S467), 85–95. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13151
Brodribb, W. (Ed.). (2019). The importance of breastfeeding. In Breastfeeding Management in Australia (5th ed., pp. 18–57). Australian Breastfeeding Association.
Cenzato, N., Berti, C., Cazzaniga, F., Di Iasio, G., Scolaro, A., & Maspero, C. (2023). Influence of the type of breastfeeding as a risk or protective factor for the onset of malocclusions: A systematic review. European Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, 24(4), 329–333. https://doi.org/10.23804/ejpd.2023.2015
Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. (2002). Breast cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries, including 50302 women with breast cancer and 96973 women without the disease. The Lancet, 360(9328), 187–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09454-0
Doğramacı, E. J., Rossi-Fedele, G., & Dreyer, C. W. (2017). Malocclusions in young children: Does breast-feeding really reduce the risk? A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 148(8), 566-574.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2017.05.018
Duijts, L., Jaddoe, V. W. v, Hofman, A., & Moll, H. A. (2010). Prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding reduces the risk of infectious diseases in infancy. Pediatrics, 126(1), e18–e25. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2008-3256
Duijts, L., Ramadhani, M. K., & Moll, H. A. (2009). Breastfeeding protects against infectious diseases during infancy in industrialized countries. A systematic review. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 5(3), 199–210. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8709.2008.00176.x
Güngör, D., Nadaud, P., Dreibelbis, C., LaPergola, C. C., Wong, Y. P., Terry, N., Abrams, S. A., Beker, L., Jacobovits, T., Järvinen, K. M., Nommsen-Rivers, L. A., O’Brien, K. O., Oken, E., Pérez-Escamilla, R., Ziegler, E. E., & Spahn, J. M. (2019). Infant milk-feeding practices and childhood leukemia: A systematic review. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 109(Suppl. 7), 757S-771S. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy306
Hauck, F. R., Thompson, J. M. D., Tanabe, K. O., Moon, R. Y., & Vennemann, M. M. (2011). Breastfeeding and reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 128(1). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-3000
Horta, B. L., Rollins, N., Dias, M. S., Garcez, V., & Pérez-Escamilla, R. (2023). Systematic review and meta-analysis of breastfeeding and later overweight or obesity expands on previous study for World Health Organization. Acta Paediatrica, 112(1), 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16460
Horta, B. L., & de Lima, N. P. (2019). Breastfeeding and type 2 diabetes: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Current Diabetes Reports, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-019-1121-x
Horta, B. L., Loret De Mola, C., & Victora, C. G. (2015a). Breastfeeding and intelligence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Paediatrica, 104. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13139 (Free full text available)
Horta, B. L., Loret De Mola, C., & Victora, C. G. (2015b). Long-term consequences of breastfeeding on cholesterol, obesity, systolic blood pressure and type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Paediatrica, 104, 30–37. https://doi.org/https//:10.1111/apa.13133
Kramer, M. S., Aboud, F., Mironova, E., Vanilovich, I., Platt, R. W., Matush, L., Igumnov, S., Fombonne, E., Bogdanovich, N., Ducruet, T., Collet, J.-P., Chalmers, B., Hodnett, E., Davidovsky, S., Skugarevsky, O., Trofimovich, O., Kozlova, L., Shapiro, S., & Group, P. of B. I. T. (PROBIT) S. (2008). Breastfeeding and child cognitive development: New evidence from a large randomized trial. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(5), 578–584. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.65.5.578
Miller, J., Tonkin, E., Damarell, R. A., McPhee, A. J., Suganuma, M., Suganuma, H., Middleton, P. F., Makrides, M., & Collins, C. T. (2018). A systematic review and meta-analysis of human milk feeding and morbidity in very low birth weight infants. Nutrients, 10(6), 707. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10060707
Mineva, G. M., Purtill, H., Dunne, C. P., & Philip, R. K. (2023). Impact of breastfeeding on the incidence and severity of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated acute lower respiratory infections in infants: A systematic review highlighting the global relevance of primary prevention. BMJ Global Health, 8(2), e009693. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009693
Rameez, R. M., Sadana, D., Kaur, S., Ahmed, T., Patel, J., Khan, M. S., Misbah, S., Simonson, M. T., Riaz, H., & Ahmed, H. M. (2019). Association of maternal lactation with diabetes and hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open, 2(10), e1913401–e1913401. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13401
Su, Q., Sun, X., Zhu, L., Yan, Q., Zheng, P., Mao, Y., & Ye, D. (2021). Breastfeeding and the risk of childhood cancer: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. BMC Medicine, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-021-01950-5
Thompson, J. M. D., Tanabe, K., Moon, R. Y., Mitchell, E. A., McGarvey, C., Tappin, D., Blair, P. S., & Hauck, F. R. (2017). Duration of breastfeeding and risk of SIDS: An individual participant data meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 140(5), e20171324. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-1324
Tschiderer, L., Seekircher, L., Kunutsor, S. K., Peters, S., O'Keeffe, L. M., & Willeit, P. (2022). Breastfeeding is associated with a reduced maternal cardiovascular risk: Systematic review and meta-analysis involving data from 8 studies and 1 192 700 parous women. Journal of the American Heart Association, 11(2), e022746. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.121.022746
Unar-Munguía, M., Torres-Mejía, G., Colchero, M. A., & González de Cosío, T. (2017). Breastfeeding mode and risk of breast cancer: A dose–response meta-analysis. Journal of Human Lactation, 33(2), 422–434. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890334416683676
Victora, C. G., Bahl, R., Barros, A. J. D., França, G. V. A., Horton, S., Krasevec, J., Murch, S., Sankar, M. J., Walker, N., Rollins, N. C., Allen, K., Dharmage, S., Lodge, C., Peres, K. G., Bhandari, N., Chowdhury, R., Sinha, B., Taneja, S., Giugliani, E., … Richter, L. (2016). Breastfeeding in the 21st century: Epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect. The Lancet, 387(10017). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01024-7
World Health Organization & United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2003). Global strategy for infant and young child feeding. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241562218
Yan, J., Liu, L., Zhu, Y., Huang, G., & Wang, P. P. (2014). The association between breastfeeding and childhood obesity: a meta-analysis. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 1267. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1267.
