Study: Breastfeeding linked to lower blood pressure in early childhood

Ottawa: Babies who were breastfed, even for a few days, had lower blood pressure as toddlers and these differences in blood pressure may translate into improved heart and vascular health as adults, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

The research has found that cardiovascular disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, can start in childhood. Studies have also confirmed breastfeeding is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood. However, the amount and length of time breastfeeding that is needed to achieve cardiovascular benefit has not been clear. "This is the first study to evaluate the association of breastfeeding in the first days of life and blood pressure in early childhood," said lead study author Kozeta Miliku, M.D., Ph.D., clinical science officer of the CHILD Cohort Study and post-doctoral fellow in medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. "Infants who received even a relatively small amount of their mother's early breast milk, also known as colostrum, had lower blood pressure at 3 years of age, regardless of how long they were breastfed or when they received other complementary foods."