>Hi all,
>It's been a while since I've posted. My question is this: Apparently there
>was some news story this past week saying that breastfeeding for a year
>poses a risk for heart problems.


This study is not the Leeson one which was discussed at length here
last week, but the Fall study, quoted in the Leeson study.

It is worth getting hold of it - full ref on the BMJ site at the end
of the Leeson study.  I haven't read the Fall study recently, but I
remember the discussion about it, so my comments following are based
on my memory of that, rather than a recent re-reading.

The Fall study did indeed appear to show increased risk of heart
disease in babies bf for over a year, but the sampling was very, very
poor. This was a sample of babies born in (I think) Hertforshire, UK,
in the 1920s and earlier, for whom feeding records were kept - not
with a view of long term tracking, BTW. The records were discovered
many decades later, and the researchers decided to follow up...and
they say they made those discoveries. There was no indication of
whether the babies were ever exclusively bf, or for how long, and
when other foods were introduced.

However  what was not taken into account was the fact that in those
years, the babies most like to be bf for a year were from poorer
backgrounds, and in adult life were far more likely to smoke, and
smoke heavily,  have unhealthy occupations, high fat diet,  live in
polluted areas etc. They would still have been unlikely to have been
exclusively bf for any but the shortest time, and supplements would
likely have been ordinary milk, or just about anything, really!

This was the first time in ages I had seen the Fall study quoted.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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