March 12, 2001 – According to research published in the medical journal The Lancet, babies who were fed formula have higher blood pressure later in life than those who received breast milk. This research is the first experimental study to understand the effect of diet at an early age on high blood pressure, a risk factor for coronary heart disease.
Several previous studies had already shown this trend, but none had taken into account other factors of hypertension, such as poor diet, stress and lack of exercise. The study of Lancet was done on premature babies who often do not have the strength to breastfeed. We have thus eliminated the ethical problem of experimenting with healthy children who have been voluntarily prevented from breastfeeding.
The 216 babies involved in the research were divided into three groups receiving breast milk, a special formula for premature babies and the normal formula of infant formula. Sixteen years later, their blood pressure was compared to find that those who received the most breast milk had 3.2 points lower (smallest number) diastolic pressure and 2.7 lower systolic pressure. points to that of babies fed with special or normal formulas.
These numbers may seem small, but a 2 point drop in diastolic pressure would represent a 17% decrease in the number of people with hypertension, a 6% decrease in the risk of coronary heart disease, and a 15% decrease in the risk of stroke. and heart attack.
It will therefore be necessary to add another virtue to breast milk alongside those which are already known as a reduction in the risk of suffering from asthma, allergies, obesity and various infectious diseases.
HealthPassport.net
Singhal A, Cole T, Lucas A. Early nutrition in preterm infants and later blood pressure: two cohorts after randomized trials. Lancet 2001; 357: 413-19
