Nursing by Numbers: How Breastfeeding Boosts the
National Economy
For example, if you had three children and nursed them each for two years, your risk for breast cancer would be reduced by 46.8 percent. In fact, one study found that women who've nursed for six years or more reduced their risk of breast cancer by as much as a 63 percent. The multi-study report estimated that breast cancer rates could be cut by more than half if women increased their lifetime breastfeeding duration. The National Cancer Institute reported the national expenditure on breast cancer treatment in 2004 was $8.1 billion, meaning extended nursing could save upwards of $4 billion a year. For each year of breastfeeding, a woman decreases her chances of getting type 2 diabetes by 15 percent, reported a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2005. So if we consider the woman from the aforementioned example, in her six years of breastfeeding she's earned a 90 percent reduction in her risk of developing diabetes. The National Institute of Health estimates that between 10 and 11 million American women have type 2 diabetes. The estimated cost of their treatment and lost wages is roughly $78 billion a year. This expenditure could be cut drastically by increased extended nursing rates. For the national Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), supporting a breastfeeding mother costs about 45 percent less than a formula-feeding mother. Every year, $578 million in federal funds buys formula for babies who could be breastfeeding. A year of purchasing formula can cost a family between $700 and more than $3,000. Many women who go back to work soon after giving birth might think the expense of formula is worth the convenience. The extra medical issues of formula, for mother and child, make the cost more than monetary. For employers, formula-feeding results in more health claims, more days off for sick children, and decreased productivity. It benefits employers in the long run to provide a time and place for mothers to pump breastmilk. A few minutes off the clock is more than made up for by the lifetime of health enjoyed by nursing babies and mommies. Works CitedJon Weimer, "The Economic Benefits of Breastfeeding: A Review and Analysis," Food and Rural Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report 13. (March 2001): 1-4. United States Breastfeeding Committee, "Economic Benefits of Breastfeeding," United States Breastfeeding Committee. (2002): 1-2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Breastfeeding Report Card—United States, 2008," Department of Health and Human Services. (August 2008): 1-4. World Health Organization, "The World Health Organization's Infant Feeding Recommendation," Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding (A55/15, paragraph 10): www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding_recommendation/en/index.html. Thomas M. Ball, Anne L. Wright, "Health Care Costs of Formula-feeding in the First Year of Life," Pediatrics 103, (4 April 1999): 870-876. Lawrence M. Gartner, Arthur I. Eidelman, "Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk," American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement, Organizational Principles to Guide and Define the Child Health Care System and/or Improve the Health of All Children Section on Breastfeeding, Pediatrics 115. (2005): 496-498. V. Beral, D. Bull, R. Doll, R. Peto, G. Reeves, "Breast Cancer and Breastfeeding: Collaborative Reanalysis of Individual Data From 47 Epidemiological Studies in 30 Countries, Including 50,302 Women With Breast Cancer and 96,973 Women Without the Disease," The Lancet 360. (20 July 2002): 187-194. National Cancer Institute, "Cancer Trends Progress Report—2007 Update: Costs of Cancer Care," progressreport.cancer.gov/doc_detail.asp?pid=1&did=2007&chid=75&coid=726&mid. Alison M. Stuebe, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Walter C. Willett, JoAnn E. Manson, Karin B. Michels, "Duration of Lactation and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes," The Journal of the American Medical Association 294, 20. (23/30 2005 November): 2601-2610. National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, "National Diabetes Statistics, 2007," National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH Publication No. 08-3892. (June 2008). Kelly Bonyata, "Financial costs of not breastfeeding ... or cost benefits of breastfeeding," (30 November 2005): http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/prepare/bfcostbenefits.html and "Extended Breastfeeding Fact Sheet," (4 2006 January): http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html. La Leche League International, "Can Breastfeeding Prevent Illnesses?" (21 July 2006): www.llli.org//FAQ/prevention.html. K. Brock et al, "Sexual, reproductive and contraceptive risk factors for carcinoma-in-situ of the uterine cervix in Sydney," The Medical Journal of Australia 150, 3 (6 1989 Feb): 125-130. E. Karlson, L. Mandl, S. Hankinson, F. Grodstein, "Do breast-feeding and other reproductive factors influence future risk of rheumatoid arthritis?" Results from the Nurses' Health Study. Arthritis Rheum 50, 11. (November 2004): 3458-3467. K. Dewey, M. Heinig, L. Nommsen, "Maternal weight-loss patterns during prolonged lactation," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 58 (1993): 162-166. Originally published: http://mothering.com/articles/new_baby/breastfeeding/nursing-by-numbers.html |