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BREASTFEEDING 'LIFESAVER'

Thousands of lives a year could be saved if more mothers chose to breastfeed their babies, new research claims.

A University of Bristol study measured the blood pressure of 4,763 seven-year-old children to see if those who had been breast-fed did better those those who were bottle-fed.

It found those who were breastfed beyond the age of two months on average had a lower blood pressure than children brought up exclusively on formula milk.

The longer a child was breast-fed, the bigger the difference in their blood pressure, the researchers claimed.

Dr Richard Martin, from the university's Department of Social Medicine, said although the difference was quite small, it could still have important health implications.

The study, published in the journal of the American Heart Association, pointed out that it was estimated that a 1% reduction in blood pressure across the population could reduce the death rate by 1.5%.

This amounted to preventing around 2,000 premature deaths a year in the UK.

Dr Martin added: "Around 40% of all infants in the USA or UK are never breast-fed.

"If breastfeeding rose from 60% to 90%, approximately 3,000 deaths a year may be prevented among 35 to 64-year-olds."

The research, conducted as part of the Children of the 90s project, suggested that the benefits of breastfeeding on blood pressure could be even more pronounced as the children grew into adulthood.

While many of the benefits of breastfeeding are well-known, it is unclear whether it is linked to a decreased risk of heart disease in later life and why this might be so.

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