We investigated associations between breastfeeding duration and number of children breastfed and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and glycemic control among parous women. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data for 9,960 parous women from the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (2010 to 2013). Having ever breastfed was inversely associated with prevalent T2DM (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42 to 0.87). All ranges of total and average breastfeeding duration showed inverse associations with T2DM. Even short periods of breastfeeding were inversely associated with T2DM (adjusted OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.99 for a total breastfeeding duration ≤12 months; adjusted OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.99 for an average breastfeeding duration per child ≤6 months). A longer duration of breastfeeding was associated with better glycemic control in parous women with T2DM (P trend=0.004 for total breastfeeding duration; P trend <0.001 for average breastfeeding duration per child). Breastfeeding may be associated with a lower risk of T2DM and good glycemic control in parous women with T2DM. Breastfeeding may be a feasible method to prevent T2DM and improve glycemic control.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  

• Integration of nutrigenomics, melatonin, serotonin and inflammatory cytokines in the pathophysiology of pregnancy-specific urinary incontinence in women with gestational diabetes mellitus
  Danielle Cristina Honorio França, Eduardo Luzía França, Luis Sobrevia, Angélica Mércia Pascon Barbosa, Adenilda Cristina Honorio-França, Marilza Vieira Cunha Rudge
  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease.2023; 1869(6): 166737.     CrossRef
• Association of lactation with maternal risk of type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies
  Ana‐Catarina Pinho‐Gomes, Georgia Morelli, Alexandra Jones, Mark Woodward
  Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.2021; 23(8): 1902.     CrossRef
• Updates in Gestational Diabetes Prevalence, Treatment, and Health Policy
  Laura T. Dickens, Celeste C. Thomas
  Current Diabetes Reports.2019;[Epub]     CrossRef