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MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer
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A study of more than 700,000 women in the U.K. found that breast-feeding was associated with lower BMIs, even decades after having weaned.
While breast-feeding is advised partly as a way to help new mothers lose weight, it may help keep their weight down even decades later, a new study from Britain suggests.
Researchers found that women who had children tended to have higher body mass indexes later in life than did women with no children; however, the researchers were able to associate every six months of breast-feeding with a 0.22 drop in BMIs among the women in their 50s and early 60s.
This translates to a 1 percent drop in BMIs for every six months of breast-feeding, the researchers said.
"We already know breast-feeding is best for babies, and this study adds to a growing body of evidence that the benefits extend to the mother as well, even 30 years after she’s given birth," said study researcher Dr. Kirsty Bobrow, a researcher at the University of Oxford.
Producing breast milk requires energy, often burning up to 500 calories per day, explained Cheryl Lovelady, a professor of nutrition and a breast-feeding expert at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. "If you didn’t change your calorie intake at all, you’re losing a pound a week," she said.
The study was published July 10 in the International Journal of Obesity.
Weight loss and breast-feeding
Bobrow and colleagues collected data on 741,000 women who had taken part in the Million Women study, conducted in England and Scotland between 1996 and 2001. As part of that study, women had reported how many children they bore, how long they had spent breast-feeding, their BMI, and other factors known to affect weight, such as smoking or physical activity. The women's average age at the time of the study was 57.5.
Of the 741,000 women, 88 percent had at least one child, and 70 percent of those mothers reported breast-feeding for at least some time. The average duration of breast-feeding was 3.1 months per child.
Among women with the same number of children, those who had breast-fed had the lower BMIs. The researchers noted that the women with more children were more likely to have breast-fed at least one of them.
Losing weight during the post-partum period, within six months to a year after birth, is critical, because women who don't lose their "baby weight" then have an increased chance of carrying extra weight later in life, Lovelady said.
Women who choose not to breast-feed or can’t should still focus on losing the weight during the post-partum period, she said.
Breast-feeding and health
Breast-feeding has benefits besides burning calories. It regulates hormones and reduces risk of breast or ovarian cancer, Lovelady said.
The researchers noted that childless women in the study had lower average BMIs than did mothers who breast-fed for more than 10 months.
Decreasing weight, even modestly, can improve health, the researchers said. Prospective studies have shown that a BMI increase of 1 percent is equivalent to a 1 percent increase in the risk of dying of any cause, the researchers reported.
(This story correct Cheryl Lovelady's last name)
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Bull@!$%#!!!
Agreed. I read a report 8 years ago that noted that weight loss doesn't happen to all breastfeeding women. Some gain weight. And when I stopped breastfeeding my son, I lost ten pounds in a week and a half.
I am one of those women who didn't lose weight while breastfeeding too. I just weaned my son at the end of March and have lost 15 lbs since then, 10 of which happened in the first couple of weeks.
This would explain why my boyfriend pays so much attention to my boobs.
All I know is I never lost weight until after I quit breastfeeding each of my children. I GAINED weight during. I don't know if I was always hungry or what---but I really struggled. Most women I talk to say the same thing. Thank Goodness its only a year or two, then you can get your old body back.
This is exactly why we guys do all we can to help you gals out there.
You can just thank us when we get ya to the weight you want by us doing the deed on your breasts.
Them babies cant go on forever! LOL
Sorry - just my juvenile side coming out. :)
"doing the deed" on our breasts? Please tell me you are single.
I also suspect that women, who breastfeed, may also be somewhat more the type of people, who as a whole are more well-read, and realize the benefits, and have the opportunity to breastfeed, and therefore, just wants to take better care of their bodies and health. Not all, but many women, who are less educated, are often less educated because they are lazy, and tend to take the easy way in life, and breastfeeding is hard from what I saw with my daughter.
In other words, lifestyle choices could also account for that difference.
My comment is not an indictment of those, who can't breastfeed, and clearly not everyone would fall into any one category.
There are so many jokes to be had in this article, but I guarantee there will be much collapsing. I am going to have to pass on this one.
Cast my vote for bull@!$%#.
I think that this study is BS and is a long way from proving any causal relationship here. The differences we are talking about are minimal and could be the result of other factors or normal statistical variances.
Whipping Post : Agreed. My mother breastfed 6 kids, each for more than 6 months and she never lost a pound while doing it. My sister had 4 children all breastfed, each for more than 6 months, and she never lost a pound while doing it. Same thing for my other sister, and my 2 sisters in law.
And my mother never regained her pre-children figure, nor any of my sisters or sisters in law. And decades later, it didn't help my mother keep her weight down.
That article is a load of bu****t.
For those of you who feel that your personal experience or the information you gathered from a few of your friends constitutes a refutation of the results of a peer reviewed scientific study, you don't understand science. They teach the scientific method now in public schools as eary as elementary school and knowing about it is part of many State's standards. Did you somehow miss out on this? Or are you planning to conduct a study on breast feeding yourselves and submit it for review by experts in the field prior to publication. So unless you can point out significant errors in the science of this study or can produce scientific studies that refute it, you'll just have to accept the results of the study.
And hurrah for breast feeding - normal biological function that can be shown to have beneficial health effects for both the parent and the child.
Worked fine for me, lost all that baby weight within six months. So easy, no bottles to sterilize, no formula to measure out, no diarrhea for baby. And of course, the scientific basis is that the baby is stripping those calories away and growing strong doing it. Breast feeding may also send a signal to your metabolism to convert those extra pounds to milk, so I swear by it. Of course, my weight was normal when I got pregnant; I don't think breast-feeding is intended as a weight-loss program.
Spellchecker you haven't been collapsed in a long time............ok it's only been a couple of days. It's ok to offend the easily offended so don't worry about it. Loved the "whack" job joke.
I think it is a cure for post-partum depression since if you don't breastfeed your body thinks the baby died and releases hormones accordingly instead of when you breastfeed and your body releases the normal hormones for producing milk
Nope, just delays it. I had terrible postpartum after I stopped breastfeeding
Fact: nursing burns 500-700 calories a day.
Fact: Breastfeeding moms need a minimum of 1800 calories a day (no matter your size and stature, 1800 is the fewest amount a mom should consume) to provide themselves enough nutrients and enough fuel to make a full milk supply.
Fact: If you seek info on how to nurse/latch a baby, choose a healthy diet and stick to appropriate calories, drink water, and you exclusively nurse...you will reduce your net calories, which causes weight loss or weight maintenance.
It's simple math.
I also say Bu11**it!All I did was gain and gain afterword. It was by far easier to lose weight with my first child, who didn't breastfeed, than my 2nd, who did.
Is it any surprise that breastfeeding entails calories consumed for milk production? Tons of Feminists will speak up and call B**llsh**t.
MichKat wrote "It was by far easier to lose weight with my first child, who didn't breastfeed, than my 2nd, who did."
There is always some genius Mom using her personal example to refute a larger study group. Did you fall asleep in every math and science class? The purpose of a study group is to give more weight to the average experience, not the individual experience.
...
I breastfed, like in this photo, and I still haven't lost the weight:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHT_FJBcdM4/T1TP5YpVMlI/AAAAAAAAAy4/nob9HFf138c/s1600/polarbear0936_n.jpg
Here's the trade off - when you breast feed, you have to slow down a bit to give baby a "go" on both sides. I found I sat on the sofa for a lifetime (well, 45 minutes was probably average). Second baby around, breast feeding ended earlier for personal reasons and I definitely noticed that the bottle feeding was faster, convenient (dad could do it), leaving me more time for other things. So one way might burn the calories, but the other way gives you back your life, so you are more inclined to get out and exercise. Why do I feel these so called studies are "reaching" to prove the pro breastfeeding argument?
Second post but I just noticed the study is from England. That explains it. My sister had her babies there and one of the explanations given to her as she was being encouraged to keep on breastfeeding by a health visitor, was the aspect of hygiene. They heavily push breastfeeding as it protects babies from their mothers if they, for want of a better phrase, are domestically challenged. Propaganda and rubbish!
ya sorry i gotta call bull#%& too, my wife nursed twins, one on each at the same time, got no benefits mentioned in this article
Good to know. That would make 8-10% difference for me :)
One percent? That doesn't sound like much. Not that I'm against B-feeding.
I did it and have never regretted it but also never lost a pound from it, then or now
Same here... two and a half years of breastfeeding didn't affect me then or now.
Of my 4 children, one ate like a horse. I weighed less after 5 months of breastfeeding him than I had since Jr. High. My weight returned to normal quickly with all of them. I wonder how much the "other factors" came in to play?
So is this a bad study or just bad journalism? No mention of how they controlled for other factors (wealthy women tend to breastfeed more and they also tend to be skinnier and healthier in general).
MozeeToby: I agree, I guess I have a couple of complaints. First is controlling for all the other factors, the second would be to measure the effect of the weight loss while breatfeeding. If I take 100,000 people, control all other factors, and then help 1/2 of them to lose 10 pounds over the next 12 months, wouldn't I expect that group to have a fractionally lower bmi 30 years later? My final complaint is why do a study on a topic, that every other study has shown is a postive? Do we need to do a study to show us that vegatibles are good? That smoking is bad?
When will they do a study on how much people don't want to hear about studies anymore?
We call that blissful ignorance and you are there.
The title of this article shoud be "Study shows Childless Women are Skinnier Than Women Who Give Birth". Although, it is politically incorrect to show the advantage of remaining childless. In the media, good women marry and make babies.
What's matter, you can't have babies?
No need to take your frustration out on the lucky people who can have children.
Have fun with your life, which is going to be devoid of any meaning since you can't pass any part of yourself on into the future.
Bisco--I have five kids and wouldn't change it for the world ( obviously--raising humans is really fun) but you are RIGHT! I have noticed that my friends that never had children still have very similar bodies to when they were in high school. All of us that have had kids (even when we are thin) have larger hips, breasts, feet, dark circles under the eyes, cellulite, stretch marks...the list could go on.
I never planned on becoming a mom or getting married--I just wanted to be a scientist and be left alone with my dog :) Funny how things turn out. The only thing I will say is now that we are all in our late thirties my childless friends don't seem as well developed emotionally as my friends with kids. They also don't seem in general as content and happy---I wonder if that is true in a larger study?
Wait, what's wrong with these two things?
Not stuffing your face and keeping active is what makes you thin! I call bu!!@!$%# on this study!
Breastfeeding also increases breast size - but maybe also the sag...
Pregnancy is what changes breasts. Not breastfeeding. And when your child weans your breast ultimately become smaller than before your were pregnant. Until you get pregnant again and they blow up - that's usually one of the first signs of pregnancy is larger, tender breasts.
Smaller? Nope. I went up a cup size while pregnant and stayed that way.
"Brest feeding keeps women thinner." This sounds like a promotional slogan for lesbianism.
Say what? How does that slogan promote lesbianism? In what way does it promote lesbianism?
Please explain your claim.
I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body and it's all because of this article.
Yeah, this is great, real worthwhile study & all that. But we don't need to see any women on the cover of Time magazine breast feeding their kid, standing up in a chair all weird, or military women taking time away from the rifle range to suckle their babies with these stupid @!$%#- eating grins on their faces. Some things are best done in private, thank you.
You should probably express your opinion in private, since it infringes on my rights not to see or hear stuff I don't like.
SomeGuy, do you find ProFreedom's handle as ridiculous as I do? Considering how they called a mother's look a 'stupid @!$#- eating grin' they do seem churlish.
Some guy- you should probably express your opinion in private since it's basically stupid.
Peridot- if you don't see how ridiculous the recent exploitation of breast feeding in public is then you'd probably advocate public urination and defecation as well. Let me spell it out for you so you can understand it: It's something you do in private. Nobody wants to see it let alone having it shoved in their face by the media.
Basically stupid? As opposed to complexly stupid?
You should probably articulate yourself better. I know 'words are hard and stuff' is your slogan, but you could at least have written a more witty response and provided at least some modicum of entertainment.
Have a good day.
Perhaps if you would explain how 'complexly stupid' applies to an opinion given about recent coverage and attention being given to women who openly breast-feed, in the form of making a social statement and taking a stand for women's rights? Obviously the topic is far too much for you to handle or you wouldn't feel your right to not "see or hear stuff I don't like" is threatened.
So this is your witty response? "'words are hard and stuff'" is my slogan eh? There's that word "stuff" again- a great filler word used by those with a poor command of the English language and a general lack of intelligence. Then again, with such an original name like "Some Guy" what else would one expect? yeah, there it is.
Have a good day.
I bet you love seeing a woman in a thong bikini - or less- in a magazine.
This study is BS! I've been doing it for over 30 years and I gained weight... Oh, this study only applies to women...
Oh! Lol
Boy, you get some interesting results when you google the title of this article....
i breastfeed my son and i only weight 112 lbs!
i keep loosing weight
Are you boasting or complaining? One cannot discern the gist of your post.
I wonder if the effects are still true for women like me who don't lose any weight until they wean?
Weaning does change your hormone balance. I struggled to nurse my son for months before I abandoned it and switched to formula. Recently I learned that woman who are very fair of skin with dark hair sometimes have trouble producing enough milk.
Wet nurses have been with us forever. Now we know why.
Skin and hair color have no bearing on one's ability to nurse. WTF? 95% of women worldwide are capable of exclusively nursing their baby. It's just that the majority have no breastfeeding education nor support.
If you smoke while you breast feed you can loose some serious weight.
True. You can also addict your infant to nicotine. What a wonderful plan. Not.
It didn't work in my case and I breastfed two children for six months each. But I do believe it made them healthier.
Wonder if the people who did this study talked with women over 30. I was raised by older women & breast feeding wasn't really an option except for the upper social class. By this study my great aunts & grandmothers should have been paper thin, one aunt had 11 children & all were breast fed, no one could ever call her a small woman, 6'1" 200 lbs. My grandmother the same only she have 5.
Wonder what type of people come with such nonsense. Either you live a healthly life or not.
And I never knew how ravenous I could be until I breastfed!
I love it when you talk dirty..............oh wait your talking about eating............never mind.
Yeah right, if A is elevated and B is elevated then A must be causing B. Not necessarily!
You named your Breast "A" and "B"?
You are right, Gtouch. Darwin should let someone else name their breasts. No originality anymore in breast-naming. Of course, it does make it easy for Chicagoans to remember.
I really hate these "medical trash" articles. I don't know if its the journalist, the study promoter, or who - but spreading lies in the name of sciences makes you lose more and more credibility with each day.
Not to mention the number of people that actually believe this rubbish and try to act on it.
Shame on you for writing lies.
My wife breast feeds 2 children right now. She has a body that is better then most college girls. She rarely exercises. Yes it may be genetics (there are no fat people in her family), but I think at least one reason is she is transferring a lot of calories to 2 young kids. We are both in our 30''s.
I breastfed until my daughter was 2 1/2 years old. Lost all the baby weight in three months and was back to my normal weight by six months. I was 36 when I had her.
This study is not untrue.
Not for you. For many of us it is. Stop being so egocentric
Really??? Myself, my sister-in-law, my mom, her sister and her three daughters did not breastfeed, and we are all thin. Now other family members who did breastfeed? Guess what?? They are the complete opposite.