Breastfeeding is as good for children’s blood pressure as exercise and dietary salt restriction

It appears Mother’s (by breastfeeding) have as much a role to play in the well being of a child as his own efforts (like regular exercise of salt restrictions) in later stages of life. Nature is again proving that she has provided all the means of care for us, should we care to listen.

Breastfeeding is as good for children’s blood pressure as exercise and dietary salt restriction, according to research from Bristol University published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. The longer the period of breastfeeding, the lower the blood pressure reading, the research found.

children who had been exclusively breastfed had lower systolic blood pressure than those who had not. This was the same for children in both countries, despite the different social, cultural, and dietary factors at play

After adjusting for all the other factors likely to influence the results, such as weight, height, and puberty, the average difference between children who had been exclusively breastfed for at least 6 months and those who had not was 1.7 mm Hg.
And the longer a child had been exclusively breastfed, the lower was his or her systolic blood pressure.

“The magnitude of the effect we found with blood pressure is comparable to the published effects of salt restriction and physical activity on blood pressure in adult populations, suggesting that it is of public health importance,” they conclude.

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