BOSTON, April 24, 2026 – Results from a pilot study of 100 exclusively breastfeeding women suggest that maternal dairy intake is associated with decreased concentrations of numerous human milk lipids. Findings from the study will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2026 Meeting , taking place April 24-27 in Boston.
The human milk lipidome is comprised of hundreds of lipids that are critical to infant brain, gut and respiratory development. Maternal diet is known to alter human milk polyunsaturated fatty acids including docosahexaenoic acid, but our understanding of the role of maternal diet in shaping the broad array of lipids in human milk is limited.
"Breastfeeding has numerous benefits for babies, including a lower risk of obesity, with breast milk being a dynamic fluid that may be influenced by a mother's health and behaviors," said Chang Lu, MD, instructor of pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital and presenting author of the study. "Lipidomics is an advanced technique that allows us to simultaneously survey over 500 lipids in human milk. Using this state-of-the-art approach, along with comprehensive assessments of maternal diet, our group found numerous relationships between a mother's diet and her breast milk lipid composition. Surprisingly, the strongest link was seen between maternal adherence to healthy dairy intake guidelines and lower levels of specific milk lipid species including many triacylglycerols with omega-6 fatty acid chains. Interestingly, we found that higher dietary score for dairy intake was associated with lower levels of 7 oxidized triacylglycerols in milk. Limited data in adults suggest that oxidized derivatives of triacylglycerols in blood may be harmful for cardiovascular and metabolic health. It is not known yet what these findings mean for babies, which will be an important future direction for our group. Breast milk is the ideal form of nutrition for infants and this work has the potential to optimize the benefits of breastfeeding and inform personalized nutritional recommendations for breastfeeding mothers."
The Mothers and Infants Linked for Healthy Growth (MILk) Study, funded by NIH/NICHD, is one of the largest observational studies based in the U.S. that studies the link between breast milk composition and maternal and infant health. It is a collaborative effort between the University of Minnesota (PI: Dr. Ellen Demerath), University of Oklahoma (PI: Dr. David Fields), and the Joslin Diabetes Center (PI: Dr. Elvira Isganaitis). In over 500 mothers and infants enrolled in Minnesota and Oklahoma, the study investigators are examining the impact of maternal factors including nutrition, exercise, and gestational diabetes, on milk composition and infant health. In addition to findings of a correlation between maternal diet and milk lipids, the study group will also present findings on variations in milk lipids based on maternal habitual physical activity (Dr. Arti Uniyal) and the impact of maternal dietary quality on human milk oligosaccharides (Dr. Meghan Crimmins) at the upcoming PAS 2026 Meeting.
Additional information is included in the below research abstract. The PAS Meeting connects thousands of leading pediatric researchers, clinicians and educators worldwide. View the full schedule in the PAS 2026 program guide
