Here is something I was just sent.  Interesting that this has had *no*
publicity.  This is what is so disturbing about what is going on.  To hear
Dr. Lucas speak, I believe he is a good scientist and has integrity.

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC

29 January 2001

Babies' earliest diet implicated in health risk factors
Babies who cease breast feeding too soon are more likely to develop early
signs of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes according to medical
researchers at the University of Dundee's Institute of Cardiovascular
Research.

Professor Jill Belch, working with Dr Steve Greene, Dr Stewart Forsyth, and
Dr Andrew Morris found evidence that introducing solid food into babies'
diets too soon leads to signs of risk factors for heart attacks and
hardening of the arteries by the time they are 13.

The study, funded by the Medical Research Council, built on the Dundee
Infant Feeding Study which followed the diets of 600 babies. A sample of 159
of those children, now aged 11 - 14, were asked to return for a series of
health tests. The results were compared with their feeding habits as
infants. The tests revealed that 20% of the children had above recommended
levels of cholesterol and blood sugar. The same proportion also had
abnormalities of the blood vessels - a trait associated with hardening of
the arteries and heart attacks. The researchers found that their blood
vessels failed to open efficiently.

Analysis of the data showed that the problems with opening of the blood
vessels - a process known as vasodilation - was directly linked with the
introduction of solid food before the baby was 15 weeks old.

It was also found that babies fed on bottled milk were more likely to have
high levels of cholesterol and a greater concentration of sugar in the
blood - a condition also linked to heart disease and diabetes. The study
showed that breast milk protected children against high cholesterol and
blood sugar levels.

Professor Jill Belch: "What we have shown is that any early introduction of
solids is linked with a poor ability to vasodilate the blood vessels. To
find out that what you ate in the first year of life is affecting your heart
and blood vessels by the time you are a teenager is quite remarkable.

"We have also found links between some of the risk factors for heart disease
and the way these children were fed during infancy, in particular
cholesterol and blood sugar levels. There does seem to be some protection
from the glucose and cholesterol effects in the group that were breast fed."

The worst feeding combination is a bottle-fed baby being given solid food
within a few weeks.

The optimum feeding regime - breast fed with no solids until after 15
weeks - results in healthier blood flow.

The study, which has not yet been published in medical journals, is expected
to lead to further work investigating the effects of changing the diet on
the health of teenagers facing heart disease.

Contact Professor Jill Belch 01382 660111 ex 32446

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