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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Andrea Masi, Professor Christopher StewartORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024 The Author(s). Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Human milk provides the infant with many bioactive factors, including immunomodulating components, antimicrobials and prebiotics, which modulate the infant microbiome and immune system maturation. As a result, breastfeeding can impact infant health from infancy, through adolescence, and into adulthood. From protecting the infant from infections, to reducing the risk of obesity, type 1 diabetes and childhood leukaemia, many positive health outcomes are observed in infants receiving breastmilk. For the mother, breastfeeding protects against postpartum bleeding and depression, increases weight loss, and long-term lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes, breast and ovarian cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Beyond infants and mothers, the wider society is also impacted because of avoidable costs relating to morbidity and mortality derived from a lack of human milk exposure. In this review, Medline was used to search for relevant articles to discuss the health benefits of breastfeeding and its societal impact before exploring future recommendations to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms behind breastfeeding's positive effects and promote breastfeeding on a global scale.
Author(s): Masi AC, Stewart CJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Microbial Biotechnology
Year: 2024
Volume: 17
Issue: 7
Print publication date: 01/07/2024
Online publication date: 30/06/2024
Acceptance date: 17/06/2024
Date deposited: 17/07/2024
ISSN (print): 1751-7915
ISSN (electronic): 1751-7915
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14520
DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14520
Data Access Statement: Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study
PubMed id: 38946112
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