BREAST-FEEDING SEEMS TO PLAY A MARGINAL ROLE IN THE PREVENTION OF INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS

In order to test the hypothesis that breast-feeding has a protective e ffect on the development of insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM) during c hildhood we retrospectively studied 297 diabetic children age 15 years or less diagnosed 1974-88 at the 5 pediatric departments in the South -East region of Sweden. They were compared to 792 non-diabetic control s of the same age (year of birth), sex and geographical location. File s from the child welfare clinics were reviewed and the families answer ed questionnaires. Ten percent of the diabetic children and 11% of the control children had never been breast-fed. In the total material no obvious difference was seen regarding duration of breast-feeding betwe en the diabetic children and their healthy controls. Only in the oldes t maternal age group (> 35 years of age) control mothers tended to hav e a longer duration of breast-feeding (P < 0.01). There was also a tre nd that children with diagnosis of IDDM during winter had been breast- fed for a shorter period (4.1 +/- 3.4 months) than their controls (5.0 +/- 3.5 months, P < 0.09). We conclude, that breast-feeding has very little effect on preventing IDDM in children. If it has any effect, it might be to decrease the risk in certain subgroups.