The latest statistics reveal that breastfeeding is alive and well in the United States. A 2005 survey found that 73% of infants had ever been breastfed, and the number of infants still breastfed to some extent at 6 months of age was 39% and at 1 year, 20%.1 This is no doubt at least partially a result of the plethora of studies reported in the media claiming benefits from breastfeeding ranging from preventing asthma to increasing intelligence. In a report prepared for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), investigators at the Tufts-New England Medical Center Evidence-based Practice Center systematically reviewed the scientific evidence on the effects of breastfeeding on short- and long-term infant and maternal outcomes in developed countries. For infants, a history of breastfeeding (or breast milk feeding) was associated with a reduced risk of otitis media, nonspecific gastroenteritis, severe lower respiratory tract infections, atopic dermatitis, asthma (young children), obesity, type 1 and 2 diabetes, childhood leukemia, sudden infant death syndrome, and necrotizing enterocolitis. There was no relationship between breastfeeding in term infants and cognitive performance. For mothers, a history of lactation was associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and breast and ovarian cancer. Early cessation of breastfeeding or not breastfeeding was associated with an increased risk of postpartum depression. The authors caution that because all data in this review came from observational studies, causality cannot be inferred based on these findings.

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