29 January 2001
Babies' earliest diet implicated in health risk factors
Babies who cease breast feeding too soon are more likely to develop early signs of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes according to medical researchers at the University of Dundee's Institute of Cardiovascular Research.
Professor Jill Belch, working with Dr Steve Greene, Dr Stewart Forsyth, and Dr Andrew Morris found evidence that introducing solid food into babies' diets too soon leads to signs of risk factors for heart attacks and hardening of the arteries by the time they are 13.
The study, funded by the Medical Research Council, built on the Dundee Infant Feeding Study which followed the diets of 600 babies. A sample of 159 of those children, now aged 11 - 14, were asked to return for a series of health tests. The results were compared with their feeding habits as infants. The tests revealed that 20% of the children had above recommended levels of cholesterol and blood sugar. The same proportion also had abnormalities of the blood vessels - a trait associated with hardening of the arteries and heart attacks. The researchers found that their blood vessels failed to open efficiently.
Analysis of the data showed that the problems with opening of the blood vessels - a process known as vasodilation - was directly linked with the introduction of solid food before the baby was 15 weeks old.
It was also found that babies fed on bottled milk were more likely to have high levels of cholesterol and a greater concentration of sugar in the blood - a condition also linked to heart disease and diabetes.
The study showed that breast milk protected children against high cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
Professor Jill Belch: "What we have shown is that any early introduction of solids is linked with a poor ability to vasodilate the blood vessels. To find out that what you ate in the first year of life is affecting your heart and blood vessels by the time you are a teenager is quite remarkable.
"We have also found links between some of the risk factors for heart disease and the way these children were fed during infancy, in particular cholesterol and blood sugar levels. There does seem to be some protection from the glucose and cholesterol effects in the group that were breast fed."
The worst feeding combination is a bottle-fed baby being given solid food within a few weeks.
The optimum feeding regime - breast fed with no solids until after 15 weeks - results in healthier blood flow.
The study, which has not yet been published in medical journals, is expected to lead to further work investigating the effects of changing the diet on the health of teenagers facing heart disease.
Contact Professor Jill Belch 01382 660111 ex 32446