Breast Feeding May Have No
Effect On Fighting Adult Obesity

Breast feeding provides many vital benefits for health but has no effect on fighting adult obesity, according to research in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The two studies involve 2,250 male Brazilians whose early health record and family backgrounds were known in detail and who were followed for 18 years, and 2,631 British children.

"Breast feeding has no marked protective effect against adolescent adiposity," the authors of the Brazilian study report.

The research counters several studies published over the past two years which suggest that breastfeeding may help protect a child from becoming dangerously overweight in adult years.

Obesity is spreading rapidly in developed countries and in the United States it has reached near-epidemic proportions.

On Tuesday, a report published by the RAND Corporation found that the number of severely obese Americans -- defined as a person at least 100 pounds (45.45 kilos) overweight -- quadrupled between 1986 and 2000, from one in every 200 to one in 50.

Reference Source 102

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