Thursday 8 May 2008

Chrons Disease and Breastfeeding Children

I often read articles about breastfeeding babies and the benefits that it brings to both the child and the mother, but I found a post the other day that pointed out that breastfeeding your baby might mean that it has less chance of developing chrons disease in the future.

Ever since the begining of time, mothers have been feeding their newborn babies with breast milk, it is about as natural as it gets, so I always wondered why some people would not feed their babies with breast milk, I am not a mother so guess I cannot really judge, but to me it is obviouse that breastfeeding must have some sort of benefit to your child.

Not only does it provide a special bond between you and your child, but there are many medical benefits as well. Now it seems that if you breastfeed your child, it has less chance of developing chrons disease in the future.

Here are some interesting points that I have found on the web about the benefits of breastfeeding:

Breastfeeding protects mothers from breast cancer, ovarian cancer, osteoporosis and obesity.

Babies who are breastfed one year often have higher IQ rates and are less likely to be victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

There are lower cases of respiratory illnesses such as asthma, ear infections, childhood cancers, gastrointestinal infections and diseases in breastfed babies.


Breastfed babies are less likely than formula fed babies of contracting colitis, meningitis, Chrons disease, necrotizing enterocolitis, eczema, certain types of heart disease and allergies amongst others

Breastfeeding promotes development of a babies jaw and facial muscles.

There is a reduced chance of childhood obesity in breastfed infants.

So if these facts are to be believed, breastfeeding is truly a beneficial choice for you and your baby.

Just a point, I have not found any study to either back up or rubbish this claim that breastfeeding lowers the chances of chrons disease, I just read it in an artice about breastfeeding and would love to hear from anyone who has any more information on the subject.

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