Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that 35 percent of white mothers still breastfeed their infants at six months of age. Only 20 percent of black mothers are still breastfeeding six-month old infants.
Many studies have shown the benefits of breastfeeding for the development of the child. But a new study by researchers at Boston University finds that breastfeeding is also beneficial to African-American mothers. The study found that black women who had two or more children were 50 percent more likely to develop hormone receptor-negative breast cancer than other black women. But African-American women who breastfed their infants did not have a higher rate of this type of cancer.
The study was published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. Lead author, Julie R. Palmer is a professor of epidemiology at the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University. She hold a master of public health degree from Boston University and a doctorate from Harvard University.