Mother’s milk can promote children’s health by reducing childhood illnesses and health care use in the early years and ultimately save health care costs, according to a study published in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

Research conducted on data on half a million babies in Scotland born between 1997 and 2009 found that those who were exclusively breastfed in the first months were less likely to use healthcare services. The data looked at whether or not the babies were breastfed for the first 6-8 weeks, whether they developed ten common childhood illnesses from birth to 27 months, and details of hospital admissions, primary care advice and prescribing.

Among the infants included in the study, 27% were exclusively breastfed, 9% had a mixed diet, and 64% received formula during the first 6–8 weeks of life. The percentages of infants who were exclusively breastfed ranged from 45% in the least poor areas to 13% in the poorest areas.

The researchers found that infants who were exclusively breastfed used fewer health care services and therefore had lower care costs compared to infants who were fed any formula milk. On average, breastfed infants had lower average hospital care costs per admission (£42) compared to formula-fed infants (£79) in the first six months of life and fewer GP visits. It has been estimated that at least £10 million in health care costs could have been avoided if all formula-fed infants had been exclusively breastfed for the first 6-8 weeks of life.

In addition, the researchers found that low breastfeeding rates in the most economically disadvantaged areas contribute to disparities in children’s health during early childhood.

The authors conclude that breastfeeding has significant health and economic benefits and that increasing breastfeeding rates in the most deprived areas could help reduce inequalities in children’s early years.

Link to the scientific publication:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300267