# Breastfeeding in the 21st century (Lancet 2016 Breastfeeding Series paper) Publication · id `maternal:pub-lancet-2016-breastfeeding` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `fc5a600ec7387e71` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Browse, life stage: Postpartum; Infant follow-up Browse, care area: Breastfeeding and lactation ## In plain language A review and meta-analysis in The Lancet in 2016 of what breastfeeding does for children and for mothers, with an estimate of how many deaths could be prevented if breastfeeding were near universal. ## Technical summary Lancet 2016 January 30 issue, a review and meta-analysis. The abstract reports protection against child infections and malocclusion, higher intelligence and probable reductions in overweight and diabetes; no association with allergic disorders such as asthma, blood pressure or cholesterol; increased tooth decay with longer breastfeeding; and for mothers protection against breast cancer and better birth spacing. Only the abstract was read; the effect sizes and the certainty of the evidence are not recorded. Funding and the series context were not read. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Children who were breastfed or breastfed longer, in the studies pooled by the 2016 Lancet review Recipient: Child; Population: Children in the studies pooled by the review. The abstract compares low-income, middle-income and high-income countries and does not give a gestational age or birth weight limit.; Care setting: Not stated in the abstract (the review pools studies from many settings).; Geography: Low-income, middle-income and high-income countries (the abstract compares them without naming countries); Life stage: Infants and children, with outcomes from infection in childhood to adult overweight and diabetes; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not stated in the abstract. ### The authors' meta-analyses indicate protection against child infections and malocclusion, increases in intelligence, and probable reductions in overweight and diabetes. They did not find associations with allergic disorders such as asthma, or with blood pressure or cholesterol, and they noted an increase in tooth decay with longer periods of breastfeeding. - Category: Effect - Evidence stage: Evidence synthesis - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Children in the studies pooled by the review. The abstract compares low-income, middle-income and high-income countries and does not give a gestational age or birth weight limit.; Care setting: Not stated in the abstract (the review pools studies from many settings).; Geography: Low-income, middle-income and high-income countries (the abstract compares them without naming countries); Life stage: Infants and children, with outcomes from infection in childhood to adult overweight and diabetes; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not stated in the abstract. - Limitations: Only the PubMed abstract of this review and meta-analysis was read; the full text was not. The abstract gives pooled conclusions without effect sizes. The abstract does not rate the certainty of the evidence, names no particular infection and gives no number for the size of any protection. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 4. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:55Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 880a968d1507804e2ba391e739f28569c97d4def79958233e4b1be5757a7ab92. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 2. Supports: Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:55Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 880a968d1507804e2ba391e739f28569c97d4def79958233e4b1be5757a7ab92. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 3. Supports: Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:55Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 880a968d1507804e2ba391e739f28569c97d4def79958233e4b1be5757a7ab92. How it applies: PubMed abstract. ## Context: Women who breastfed or breastfed longer, in the studies pooled by the 2016 Lancet review Recipient: Maternal; Population: Nursing women in the studies pooled by the review.; Care setting: Not stated in the abstract (the review pools studies from many settings).; Geography: Many countries (the abstract does not name them); Life stage: Postpartum and later adult life; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not stated in the abstract. ### For nursing women, the authors report that breastfeeding gave protection against breast cancer and improved birth spacing, and that it might also protect against ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes. - Category: Effect - Evidence stage: Evidence synthesis - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Nursing women in the studies pooled by the review.; Care setting: Not stated in the abstract (the review pools studies from many settings).; Geography: Many countries (the abstract does not name them); Life stage: Postpartum and later adult life; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not stated in the abstract. - Limitations: Only the PubMed abstract of this review and meta-analysis was read; the full text was not. The abstract gives pooled conclusions without effect sizes. The words might also protect mark the ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes findings as uncertain in the abstract. It gives no number for the size of any protection. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 6, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:55Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 880a968d1507804e2ba391e739f28569c97d4def79958233e4b1be5757a7ab92. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 2. Supports: Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 6, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:55Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 880a968d1507804e2ba391e739f28569c97d4def79958233e4b1be5757a7ab92. How it applies: PubMed abstract. ## Context: Modelled annual deaths in children younger than 5 years and in women if breastfeeding were near universal (2016 Lancet review) Recipient: Mixed recipients; Population: Annual deaths in children younger than 5 years and annual deaths from breast cancer in women, estimated by the review's model for a scale-up of breastfeeding to a near universal level. The estimate is a projection, not an observed trial result.; Care setting: Not applicable (population-level estimate).; Geography: Not stated in the abstract for the estimate (the sentence refers to annual deaths without naming a region); Life stage: Children younger than 5 years, and women; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Annual estimate; the horizon is not stated in the abstract. ### The authors estimate that scaling up breastfeeding to a near universal level could prevent 823,000 annual deaths in children younger than 5 years and 20,000 annual deaths from breast cancer. - Category: Effect - Evidence stage: Evidence synthesis - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Mixed recipients; Population: Annual deaths in children younger than 5 years and annual deaths from breast cancer in women, estimated by the review's model for a scale-up of breastfeeding to a near universal level. The estimate is a projection, not an observed trial result.; Care setting: Not applicable (population-level estimate).; Geography: Not stated in the abstract for the estimate (the sentence refers to annual deaths without naming a region); Life stage: Children younger than 5 years, and women; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Annual estimate; the horizon is not stated in the abstract. - Limitations: Only the PubMed abstract of this review and meta-analysis was read; the full text was not. The abstract gives pooled conclusions without effect sizes. This is a modelled projection, not an observed trial result; the abstract does not give the assumptions behind it or say which countries it covers. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 7, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:55Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 880a968d1507804e2ba391e739f28569c97d4def79958233e4b1be5757a7ab92. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 2. Supports: Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 7, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:55Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 880a968d1507804e2ba391e739f28569c97d4def79958233e4b1be5757a7ab92. How it applies: PubMed abstract. ## Connected pages - Published in: The Lancet (`core:lancet`) ## Provenance Content hash: 526539732bccd3ead7a7333bc285de40fc762fd96a0e901ac3df7fd92b4dabd5 Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15