Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 14, 2025

Author Spotlight: Exploring the Long-Term Health Impacts of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection on Offspring
Published on: May 17, 2024
Breastfeeding, genetic susceptibility, and type 2 diabetes in offspring in later life
Ying Hu1,2,3, Hao Ma3, Xuan Wang3
1Department of Obstetrics, Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Objective:
Our objective was to assess the prospective association between breastfeeding and the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in offspring and to investigate the joint effects of breastfeeding and genetic susceptibility on T2D risk.
Methods:
We included 364,562 participants free from prevalent T2D from the UK Biobank. Cox proportional hazards models were employed to evaluate the association between breastfeeding and incident T2D.
Results:
Over a median follow-up of 12 years, 12,795 cases of incident T2D were recorded. Ever breastfeeding was associated with a significantly lower risk of T2D compared with never breastfeeding (hazard ratio = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89-0.99). Additionally, significant interaction effects on T2D risk were observed between breastfeeding and T2D genetic risk score (T2D-GRS), both multiplicatively and additively. The association between T2D-GRS and risk of T2D was stronger in participants who were never breastfed compared with those who were breastfed (p for multiplicative interaction = 0.040). The risk of T2D associated with never breastfeeding combined with a high T2D-GRS was greater than the sum of the risks associated with each individual factor (p for additive interaction = 0.007).
Conclusions:
Breastfeeding is associated with a lower risk of incident T2D in offspring, showing both multiplicative and additive interactions with T2D-GRS.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Pathophysiology of Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is characterized by autoimmune-mediated destruction of pancreatic β cells, with environmental factors potentially triggering this process in genetically susceptible individuals. Despite many not having a family history, certain genes increase susceptibility,...
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 2 and Gestational
Diabetes Mellitus: Overview and Type I Subtype
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. As a result, the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin, and individuals with...
Carbohydrate Metabolism
Starch accounts for approximately 60% of the carbohydrates consumed by humans. Since amylase enzymes cannot function in the stomach's acidic environment, starch can only be digested in the mouth and small intestine. Simple sugars are found naturally in milk and fruits in...
Psychoneuroimmunology: Diabetes and Cancer
Pedigree Analysis

