Fact Sheet

Texas Breastfeeding Coalition (TXBC)

Who: In January of 2006, six representatives from various regions of Texas attended the United States Breastfeeding Committee Conference of state breastfeeding coalitions in Alexandria, Virginia. With support from the Office of Women’s Health, the conference attendees organized a meeting of representatives from all regional breastfeeding coalitions in Texas in May of 2006. Participants drafted the mission and goals statements, developed a web site, and began planning for future collaborations with key stakeholders from the Texas community.

What? The TXBC is a broad-based coalition of organizations and community leaders committed to working together on the design and implementation of practical, evidence-based strategies to promote, support, and protect breastfeeding in the state of Texas.

Legacy: Ensure that breastfeeding is the cultural norm in Texas

Mission: To improve the health of Texans by working collaboratively to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding.

Goals

Ensure that all state and local laws and policies protect breastfeeding
Protect and promote a public environment supportive and accepting of breastfeeding
Improve breastfeeding rates
Build, link, and ensure access to state and local resources.
Foster communication and build a strong networking system among stakeholders.

Web site: www.txbfcoalition.org

Why? Infants who are breastfed are healthier during infancy^1;2and less likely to become obese^3-6or develop certain types of cancer in childhood in adolescence^7;8. Increasing breastfeeding rates in communities has been shown to decrease infant hospitalization and medical costs^9;10. Moreover, mothers who breastfeed are at lower risk for developing diabetes^11;12, and certain types of breast ^13;14, and ovarian cancers^15;16. It is time for Texans to act together to insure that every Texas mother who desires to do so can give her child the best possible start in life by breastfeeding.

How? Specific strategies for achieving TXBC goals will be identified, developed, and implemented collaboratively with community leaders. In September of 2006, key policy makers, business executives, health care administrators, physicians, nurses, educators, and community leaders will come together to begin strategy development. These leaders will provide critical expertise for determining which strategies should be developed, how they can be implemented, and whether and how their effectiveness can be evaluated in specific Texas institutions.

Reference List:

1. Gartner LM, Morton J, Lawrence RA, Naylor AJ, O'Hare D, Schanler RJ et al. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics 2005;115:496-506.

2. Chantry CJ, Howard CR, Auinger P. Full Breastfeeding Duration and Associated Decrease in Respiratory Tract Infection in US Children. Pediatrics 2006;117:425-32.

3. Arenz S, Ruckerl R, Koletzko B, von KR. Breast-feeding and childhood obesity--a systematic review. Int.J.Obes.Relat Metab Disord. 2004;28:1247-56.

4. Owen CG, Martin RM, Whincup PH, Smith GD, Cook DG. Effect of infant feeding on the risk of obesity across the life course: a quantitative review of published evidence. Pediatrics 2005;115:1367-77.

5. Harder T, Bergmann R, Kallischnigg G, Plagemann A. Duration of breastfeeding and risk of overweight: a meta-analysis. Am J Epidemiol. 2005;162:397-403.

6. Schaefer-Graf U, Hartmann R, Pawliczak J, Passow D, Abou-Dakn M, Vetter K et al. Association of Breast-feeding and Early Childhood Overweight in Children From Mothers With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care 2006;29:1105-07.

7. Martin RM, Gunnell D, Owen CG, Smith GD. Breast-feeding and childhood cancer: A systematic review with metaanalysis. Int.J Cancer 2005;117:1020-31.

8. Kwan ML, Buffler PA, Abrams B, Kiley VA. Breastfeeding and the risk of childhood leukemia: a meta-analysis. Public Health Rep. 2004;119:521-35.

9. Ball TM, Wright AL. Health care costs of formula-feeding in the first year of life. Pediatrics 1999;103:870-76.

10. Morrow AL, Guerrero ML, Shults J, Calva JJ, Lutter C, Bravo J et al. Efficacy of home-based peer counselling to promote exclusive breastfeeding: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 1999;353:1226-31.

11. Stuebe AM, Rich-Edwards JW, Willett WC, Manson JE, Michels KB. Duration of lactation and incidence of type 2 diabetes. JAMA 2005;294:2601-10.

12. Taylor JS, Kacmar JE, Nothnagle M, Lawrence RA. A systematic review of the literature associating breastfeeding with type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. J Am.Coll.Nutr 2005;24:320-26.

13. Jernstrom H, Lubinski J, Lynch HT, Ghadirian P, Neuhausen S, Isaacs C et al. Breast-feeding and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. J.Natl.Cancer Inst. 2004;96:1094-98.

14. Breast cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries, including 50302 women with breast cancer and 96973 women without the disease. Lancet 2002;360:187-95.

15. Gronwald J, Byrski T, Huzarski T, Cybulski C, Sun P, Tulman A et al. Influence of selected lifestyle factors on breast and ovarian cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers from Poland. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2006;95:105-09.

16. Tung KH, Wilkens LR, Wu AH, McDuffie K, Nomura AM, Kolonel LN et al. Effect of anovulation factors on pre- and postmenopausal ovarian cancer risk: revisiting the incessant ovulation hypothesis. Am J Epidemiol. 2005;161:321-29.


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