This powerful study, from researchers with an outstanding background in this specific area, makes it appear less likely that the whole proteins in baby formula made from cow’s milk increase the risk of a later T1 diabetes diagnosis:
the scientists devised a very ambitious experiment, involving 2159 newborns studied at 78 study centers in 15 countries. Half those babies were given formula with regular cow’s milk proteins for at least 60 days. The other half got a formula in which the milk proteins had been predigested.
The trial then followed these children until the youngest reached 10 years of age. And the scientists then tallied up the cases of diabetes. They now report in the journal JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association, that it made no difference whether these children had been fed formula with whole-milk proteins or those with the proteins broken down.
It is particularly interesting since a previous, less in-depth study by the same research team seemed to indicate a possible link.
And this is what happens when science works, I just wish the media would quite hyping non-definitive studies in their click-bait.
Researchers had an idea, it seemed to hold up to the small studies. This led to funding a definitive trial, and blammo, you have an answer that you can trust.
The title of the post seems slightly inaccurate—as best I can tell, it doesn’t suggest directly anything about bottle-feeding categorically (vs breast feeding), just that the type of formula for bottle feeding/whether it includes cow milk proteins is no riskier than non-cow-milk formula. (That’s not to suggest I think bottle feeding is riskier than breast feeding, that’s just outside the scope of this study, and they actually suggest there’s some evidence, albeit weak evidence, that some amount of breast-feeding may be beneficial.)
I think that with your kids, you do your best to weigh your options and don’t look back or beat yourself up too much, with what you decide to do. There is so much guilt built into being a parent.
There really is, and there’s a lot going on right now due to this feeding switch! Thanks for the reminders.
Yes! I’ve been just lurking the past couple of weeks - traveling, Christmas, with sick kids, plus all of the figuring out new feeding methods for baby…it’s been a busy couple of weeks. But I’m back!
Agreed—even beyond diabetes, while there are a number of findings for the benefits of breast milk, most are really small effects that show up across large samples but wouldn’t have a major impact on any one person, to the point where the take home from it all should probably be, if you can breast feed or partially breast feed, it’s probably worth doing, but it’s nothing to freak out or feel guilty about if you just can’t, for whatever reason (and there are plenty of reasons why that might not be feasible for folks). Lots of findings in health science are like that—a good other example is aspirin in preventing heart attacks. The effect is TINY but reliable, and the only reason it gets recommended is aspirin is cheap and without any side effects for most people, so it’s worth it even for what is not likely to be a major difference for most.
