title: Breastfeeding is protective to diabetes risk in young adults: a longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is unclear whether any breastfeeding or a certain duration of breastfeeding is protective against the development of diabetes in adult offspring.
  
  
  METHODS
  We followed a sub-sample of 3,595 offspring born in the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, Australia between 1981 and 1983 and for whom we had doctor diagnosed self-reported diabetes at age 21 years and maternal reported duration of breastfeeding at 6-month post-natal follow-up. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the independent associations of duration of breastfeeding (never breastfeed, breastfed <4 months and breastfed ≥4 months) with offspring diabetes by age 21 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 3,595 young adults, 45 (1.25 %) developed diabetes by age 21 years. The odds ratio of experiencing diabetes was 0.58 (95 % CI 0.29, 1.16) for offspring who were breastfed <4 months, and it was 0.29 (95 % CI 0.13, 0.63), for offspring who were breastfed at least 4 months compared to the never breastfed offspring. Adjusting for potential confounding and mediating factors including maternal age, education, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), smoking, offspring sports, TV and their BMI at 21 years did not substantially alter this association.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings of this study suggest that infants who are breastfed for longer than 4 months have a substantial protective effect against the development of diabetes in young adulthood, which is independent of current BMI. Promoting breastfeeding for a minimum of 4 months may be a useful strategy for the prevention of diabetes among young adults.
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston Rd, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, 4006, Australia. mamun@sph.uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al Mamun
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: O'Callaghan
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston Rd, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, 4006, Australia.
authors.forename: Gail M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health and School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Herston Rd, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, 4006, Australia.
authors.forename: Jake M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Najman
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.|Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Leonie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Callaway
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.|Mater Health Services, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Harold D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: McIntyre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Breastfeeding; Diabetes; Duration; Young adults