Dear Friends: Breast Feeding May Boost Bone Density in Adolescent Mothers NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jul 16 - Results of a study published in the July issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine suggest that adolescent mothers who had breastfed have greater bone mineral density (BMD) during young adulthood, than those who had not. BMD for five regions of the proximal femur and were compared in a total of 819 women aged between 20 and 25 years. Compared to women who had not breastfed during adolescence, those who had breastfed had significantly higher adjusted BMD in four of the five evaluated regions. Moreover, BMDs in these women were equivalent to those in nulliparous women. In fact, say the investigators, adjusted BMD, "was actually 5% to 10% higher in the women who breastfed as adolescents compared to their counterparts who did not." These findings, they conclude, "confirm that lactation is not detrimental to the bone health of adolescents and may be protective." Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2004;158:650-656. Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html