This 30-Year Study Found That Breastfeeding May Reduce Your Risk of Getting Diabetes

A new 30-year-long study recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine discovered an interesting correlation between how long women breastfeed and their risk of getting diabetes. According to the research, breastfeeding for six months or more may lower a mother's risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

According to the study, type 2 diabetes affects 1.9 percent of women in the US between 20 and 39 years old, with black women being the most affected group. And while it's widely known that breastfeeding has numerous benefits for infants, we often overlook the positive effects it has on moms.

Lucy Martinez Sullivan, executive director of 1,000 Days and a leading global expert on maternal and child health, agrees. "This study is the latest in a growing body of evidence showing that breastfeeding has powerful short-term and long-term health benefits not only for babies but also for mothers," she said. "Research shows that mothers who breastfeed are not only less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, but breastfeeding can also reduce a mother's risk of breast and ovarian cancer and help guard mothers against postpartum depression."

After collecting data from 1,238 women using periodic in-person examinations and interviews, the study found that moms who breastfed up to six months had a 25 percent lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes than those who didn't nurse, and women who breastfed for six months or more reduced their risk of developing the disease by 47 percent. Moreover, researchers found that the most benefits came from nursing 12 months or longer when compared with those women who didn't breastfeed at all.

Lucy hopes this study contributes to more research being done on the health benefits breastfeeding has for mothers, specifically: "It's exciting to see additional research demonstrating the maternal health benefits and to get further evidence that breastfeeding could help slow the epidemic of diabetes. The benefits of breastfeeding are real, and we should be doing everything we can as a society to support women to breastfeed for as long as they want."