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PITTSBURGH, Oct 13, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Pittsburgh researchers say breastfeeding babies exclusively for their first four months reduces their risk of obesity when they reach preschool age.
When formula supplements are added, the breastfeeding must continue for six months for the same anti-obesity benefit, researchers at Mathematica Policy Research Inc. and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh said.
The researchers studied 73,000 low-income children and found the risk of obesity was reduced in 30 percent to 45 percent of breastfed children. The benefit was seen in white children born to mothers who did not smoke during pregnancy. Only 10 percent of the children studied were breastfed for the required time period.
The results appear in the latest issue of Obesity Research, a journal published
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