Infant feeding in Finnish children less than 7 yr of age with newly diagnosed IDDM. Childhood Diabetes in Finland Study Group.
OBJECTIVE
We studied associations between the type of feeding in infancy and the incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).


METHODS
We studied 103 newly diagnosed diabetic children less than 7 yr of age and 103 age- and sex-matched population-based control children in a countrywide study.


RESULTS
The risk of IDDM was decreased (P less than 0.05) among children breast-fed for at least 7 mo (odds ratio [OR] 0.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24-0.85) or exclusively breast-fed for at least 3 (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13-0.84) or 4 (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.22-0.84) mo. Also, children who were greater than or equal to 4 mo old at the time of introduction of supplementary milk feeding had a lower risk of diabetes (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.26-0.91).


CONCLUSIONS
The protective effects of a long duration of breast-feeding and a late introduction of dairy products on the risk of IDDM remained significant after adjusting for the mother's education.
Virtanen
S M
SM
Räsänen
L
L
Aro
A
A
Lindström
J
J
Sippola
H
H
Lounamaa
R
R
Toivanen
L
L
Tuomilehto
J
J
Akerblom
H K
HK
D001942:Breast Feeding; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000209:etiology*; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors