Breastfeeding cuts breast cancer risk

Moms-to-be, please note -- if you want to cut the risk of developing breast cancer later in life, just make it a point to breastfeed your bab y for a year, at least. A new study has corroborated the popular theory that breastfeeding significantly reduces a mother's risk of breast cancer -- in fact, researchers have found women who breastfeed for a year are five per cent less likely to have the disease.

"Reducing your breast cancer risk by about five per cent might not sound like a big difference but the longer you breastfeed for, the more you will reduce your risk.

"So if a woman breastfeeds two or more children for at least six months each over her lifetime, it is clear she can make a significant impact on the cancer risk, not to mention all the other benefits of breastfeeding," Dr Rachel Thompson of the World Cancer Research Fund said.

A recent survey for the WCRF found that three out of four women were unaware that breastfeeding could cut their risk of developing breast cancer, the most common form of cancer in the fair sex, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Dr Thompson has urged mothers to breastfeed for as long as they could.

She said: "We want to get across the message that breastfeeding is something positive that women can do to reduce their risk of breast cancer.

"Because the evidence that breast-feeding reduces breast cancer risk is convincing, we recommend women should breastfeed exclusively for six months and then continue with complementary feeding after that."