This is one of my concerns about breastfeeding research - so often the
studies can't possibly prove what they say they prove because there is no
group of exclusive, long-term breastfed babies included.

I think about a study I saw looking at breastfeeding and diabetes, which
looked at children who developed diabetes and those who did not develop
diabetes, and found that breastfeeding did not make a difference. But the
number of children in the study, in either group, who were exclusively
breastfed for at least six months was zero. My understanding of other
diabetes research is that simply introducing cow's milk or formula before a
year will increase the risk of developing diabetes in children who are at
risk. So since we had NO children who didn't get formula before six months,
this study tells us nothing at all. Yet I first heard about this study (and
was then motivated to read it myself) at a support group meeting of mothers
of diabetic children, where the health professional running the meeting told
them it was not worth the effort to breastfeed because this study proved it
made no difference.

Or the other study that a doctor told me showed that giving one or two
bottles a day from birth onwards didn't lead to earlier weaning. Here's how
this one worked: mothers were randomized into two groups, one told to give
one or two bottles a day, the other a control group not given any special
instructions. But women who wanted to exclusively breastfeed refused to take
part in the study because they didn't want to risk being part of the
"bottle" group. So it turned out that the babies in both groups were getting
bottles at about the same rate, and - naturally - babies in both groups
weaned at about the same time. Another study that proves NOTHING.

Sorry - this is turning into an early morning rant. I think we need more
people to do good research.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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