Being breastfed as a baby might be better than statins in staving off heart disease in later life, according to new research. Babies given mother’s milk for three months or more have a much lower risk of the chronic inflammation that can also lead to diabetes and other metabolic illnesses, US researchers say. Suckling lowers the amounts of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood that is linked to clogged arteries and damage to blood vessels.

Professor Molly Metzger, of Washington University, said: ‘We are looking at the effects of these early factors on later levels of CRP, a biomarker associated with risk for cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

‘Comparing the long-term effects of breastfeeding to the effects of clinical trials of statin therapy, we find breastfeeding to exert effects that are as large or larger.’

Her findings – published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences – indicate breastfeeding has implications for children’s health decades later, she said.

Professor Metzger added: ‘These findings underscore the importance of a preventive approach, including but not limited to prenatal health care and breastfeeding.’