Canadian scientists have found that breastfeeding cuts a woman’s risk of getting diabetes by a quarter.
The researchers also found that breastfeeding also reduces a baby’s chance of developing diabetes in adulthood by almost a fifth.
The researchers believe breastfeeding helps protect a woman from diabetes by using up excess fats and sugar in a mother’s body.
Professor Gary Shen of the University of Manitoba analysed the records of 334,553 babies born over a 24-year period in that region, Daily Mail reports.
Women who breastfed their babies are 23 per cent less likely to develop diabetes while babies who were breastfed are 18 per cent less likely to develop diabetes when compared to children who have been given formula milk.
Babies who are given breast milk are far less likely to become obese.
Diabetes occurs when the body either does not produce enough of the hormone insulin or does not properly react to it.
The study was presented at the World Diabetes Congress in Vancouver.
S.O.Z