>Prolonging breast feeding to reduce obesity may be a burden
>
>http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7224/1576


Thanks, Denny, for drawing our attention to this.  I read it this morning
(i sub to the BMJ weekly contents list) and I was puzzled -  just don't
understand their conclusion that it could be a 'burden' to prolong bf.

I take on board the questioning of the link between reduced obesity and
prolonged bf - there should be some way of allowing for the fact that
heavier babies may be weaned earlier because their mothers feel they
haven't got enough milk....so the lessening of obesity may be at least
partly because babies who are more likely to be obese get weaned sooner.
Though my goodness me, even on their figures, this is highly speculative.

But why would that mean prolonging the bf would be a burden? Huh?  The
paper reiterates that a large minority of women who seek advice for 'not
enough milk' are told to give formula - if they had better support for
breastfeeding, we know they would be less likely to wean.

The paper should have concluded that heavier babies might get even more
benefit from prolonged bf.

Or am I missing something here?

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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