BRISTOL, England, March 2 (UPI) -- British researchers have found children who were breast-fed as infants tend to have lower blood pressure than those who were bottle-fed.
The University of Bristol research, summarized in the latest edition of Circulation, confirms previous studies that found benefits to breast feeding babies, the Washington Times reported Tuesday.
The British study is noteworthy since lower blood pressure is directly linked to a lower risk of heart disease -- the industrialized world's No. 1 killer -- as well as a lower risk of stroke and kidney disease.
The British study, led by Richard Martin, senior lecturer in epidemiology and public health at the University of Bristol, examined nearly 4,800 7-year-olds, including some who were breast-fed and others who were not.
The researchers found that for every three months a child was breast-fed, his or her systolic blood pressure reading, the top number that tracks the peak pressure at the moment when the heart contracts and pumps out blood into the arteries, declined 0.2 on average.
