Were you breastfed as an infant?

A word of encouragement to mothers and mothers-to-be If you are pregnant or currently caring for a baby, breastfeeding is one valuable way to give your child a healthy beginning—and possibly contribute to better health long into the future.

Research suggests that its benefits may extend beyond infancy, with potential advantages for growth, brain development, appetite regulation and future metabolic and cardiovascular health.

Either way, the question is worth asking because researchers are increasingly interested in how nutrition during the earliest months of life may shape health many years later.