Breastfed babies make stronger, healthier adolescents

Saturday, January 08, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: breastfeeding, babies, health news

(NaturalNews) A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition adds more evidence to the fact that breastfed babies end up healthier and more vibrant than babies that are not breastfed. Enrique Garcia Artero and his colleagues from the University of Granada determined that breastfeeding leads to increased muscle muscle mass, greater athletic performance, and overall improved health as children grow into adolescence.

"Our objective was to analyze the relationship between the duration of breastfeeding babies and their physical condition in adolescence," explained Artero concerning the study. "The results suggest further beneficial effects and provide support to breastfeeding as superior to any other type of feeding."

Artero and his team evaluated over 2,500 children, both breastfed and non-breastfed. They observed larger leg muscles in breastfed children compared to non-breastfed children, and breastfed children were also able to jump farther than non-breastfed children in a horizontal jumping test. Researchers also observed that the longer a child was breastfed, the better her or she performed physically later in life.

"Until now, no studies have examined the association between breastfeeding and future muscular aptitude," added Artero. "However, our results concur with the observations made as regards other neonatal factors, such as weight at birth, are positively related to better muscular condition during adolescence."

Breast milk contains a wide range of vital immunological factors that are necessary for young children to develop healthy immune systems. Without these nutrients, children are more prone to allergies, skin disorders, obesity, diabetes, and other serious illnesses. Additionally, the vital nutrients in breast milk are needed for proper brain development and intelligence formation.

Breastfeeding is also beneficial to mothers as it lowers their risk of developing both breast cancer (https://www.naturalnews.com/028469_brstfeedin...) and type-2 diabetes (https://www.naturalnews.com/029631_brstfeedin...).

Sources for this story include:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-...