Breastfeeding Reduces Breast Cancer Risk
October 7, 2006 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under advantages of breastfeeding, cancer, extended breastfeeding, scientific studies
Scientists have long known that breastfeeding reduces a woman’s breast cancer risk. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month here in the United States. As part of a series of cancer-related posts, let’s revisit this incidental yet significant advantage of breastfeeding.
The results from the 2002 study are astonishing. For each year that a woman breastfeeds her children, there is a 4.3 percent decrease in her risk of breast cancer compared to women who never breastfeed. If women in developed countries like the United States increased the number of children they bear and increased the duration of breastfeeding to two years for each child (like mothers …read more
