Breastfeeding shows no lasting link to maternal bone health a decade after birth

Women who breastfeed can be reassured that the practice shows no lasting negative association with their skeletal health, according to a 10-year follow-up of the ROLO longitudinal cohort study published in Archives of Osteoporosis. The researchers investigated whether breastfeeding behaviours were linked to maternal bone health measured a decade after childbirth, using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans and, as exploratory secondary outcomes, bone turnover markers.

The analysis included 196 women from the ROLO study, which originally examined a low glycaemic index diet in pregnancy, at 10-year follow-up. Demographic, lifestyle and breastfeeding data were collected by questionnaire. DXA measurements were available for 171 participants, while bone turnover marker measurements were available for a smaller subset of 60. The researchers examined exclusive breastfeeding duration, any breastfeeding duration, and three mutually exclusive cumulative breastfeeding groups: women who never breastfed, those who breastfed for less than 12 months, and those who breastfed for 12 months or more.

Participants had a mean age of 42.8 years, with 97.9% premenopausal. Ever breastfeeding rates stood at 70.9%, and 40.3% of the women had a cumulative breastfeeding duration of 12 months or more. Across these exposures, breastfeeding durations were not associated with DXA measurements of bone health at the 10-year follow-up, the main result of the study.

However, the researchers note that given the small group size, an adjusted analysis was underpowered, and the study’s conclusion states that this exploratory finding should be interpreted cautiously.

The authors conclude that these findings add to the existing evidence that breastfeeding is not associated with adverse long-term maternal bone health, offering reassurance to women that breastfeeding does not have a lasting negative impact on the skeleton. As an observational longitudinal cohort analysis, the study reports associations rather than causal effects, and its DXA findings rest on 171 participants with imaging data, with the bone turnover marker analysis limited to 60 women.

Subject of Research: Long-term associations between breastfeeding duration and maternal bone health measured by DXA and bone turnover markers

Article Title: Breastfeeding and maternal bone health 10 years postpartum: findings from the ROLO longitudinal cohort study

Article References: Kennedy, S., Dunlop, K., Callanan, S., Crowley, R. K., & McAuliffe, F. M. (2026). Breastfeeding and maternal bone health 10 years postpartum: findings from the ROLO longitudinal cohort study. Archives of Osteoporosis, 21(1), Article 153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-026-01787-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s11657-026-01787-6

Keywords: breastfeeding, bone health, DXA, osteoporosis, postpartum, bone turnover markers, longitudinal cohort, ROLO study, maternal health, skeletal health, maternal, bone