Childbearing is linked with obesity, but breast feeding cuts that risk by about 1 percent for every six months of nursing.
Those findings were presented in a study published in the International Journal of Obesity.
While the reduction may seem small for an individual woman, scientists say it is substantial in terms of obesity-related diseases across the population.
They add breast feeding may help control weight by resetting various metabolic control centers in the brain after childbirth.
