The UK National Case Control Study Group has confirmed that breast feeding protects women against breast cancer.

"Breast feeding is good for the mother as well as the baby," is their, not surprising to WDDTY readers, conclusion.

The group looked at a total of 755 women diagnosed as having breast cancer before the age of 36 in 11 health regions in Britain matched with a comparable group of women without the disease.

They found that there was no relation between breast cancer and the number of babies a woman had, but that there was a link between the total duration of breast feeding. " The risk decreases with increasing duration of breast feeding, with breast feeding each baby for three months or longer giving the greatest protection," they concluded. BMJ, 3 July 1993.

As far as the babies themselves are concerned, a study of 794 children from families with a history of hypersensitivityatopy found that those who were breast fed were far less likely to become ill. "During the first three years of life, breast fed babies had significantly fewer episodes of serious illness, laryngitis, acute bronchitis and lower respiratory tract infections than non breast fed babies."