Choice of infant formula can affect increase diabetes risk

New research from scientists at the University of Helsinki in Finland has found that the type of baby formula used for weaning children can have an effect on their risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
Their results revealed that the choice of formula could be crucial, and that moving from breastfeeding to a highly hydrolysed formula, one that is broken down to make digestion easier, could reduce the risk of the infant developing type 1 diabetes .
The study, which was published in the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition, monitored children that have an HLA genotype that puts them at risk of diabetes later in life. It revealed that, in those children who had a transition from breastfeeding to hydrolysed formula, the signs of diabetes had been reduced by 50 per cent by the age of five, as compared to those who started consuming other types of formula, or foodstuffs such as fruit or cereals, straight after being breastfed .
Formulas that use cow’s milk as a base are generally harder to digest for young children up to the age of one.
The report found that, for type 1 diabetes, “Short-term breastfeeding and early exposure to complex dietary proteins, such as cow milk proteins and cereals, or to fruit, berries, and roots have been implicated as risk factors .”