Ah to breastfeed or to not breastfeed…is that still a question? I’m always amazed when I hear people speak out against breastfeeding. Honestly, I thought everybody did it; I thought it was as natural as, well…breastfeeding. But I guess I should have figured when I first noticed Family Feud giving away a year’s supplies of Similac that not everybody is deft of breast. And since breastfeeding requires an exposed bosom (although my wife is a pretty nifty nipple-hider when she needs to be), I guess some people feel uncomfortable around the practice. I never did understand uneasiness around bare breasts, but hey, that’s just me.

Well, there’s plenty of evidence showing breastfeeding to be the best bet for a healthy baby, and the benefits extend far into adolescence. Take, for example, the latest study out of the University of South Carolina, Columbia that showed breastfed babies to be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The study looked at approximately 250 people aged 10-21–80 with type 2 diabetes, and 167 without–and recorded whether they were breastfed as babies or not. The breastfed group had significantly lower incidences of type 2 diabetes regardless of race.

With type 2 diabetes on the rise and reaching epidemic proportions in American children, adolescents and young adults, it would seem to me that breastfeeding as a prophylactic practice would be advisable. Throw in breast milk’s high nutritional value and immune boosting properties, and really, it can’t be beat. But no matter the evidence to support breastfeeding, there will always be those who act squeamish around a breastfeeding mother and child. Oh well, you can’t please everyone, so…please your baby first.