Breast Feeding Curbs Early Appearance of Allergic Diseases
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jan 01 - Results of a prospective birth cohort
study conducted in Sweden suggest that breast feeding has a preventive effect on
the early development of multiple allergic diseases.
Dr. Magnus Wickman of the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm and colleagues had
parents of 4089 infants complete detailed questionnaires about various
exposures, allergic symptoms, and feeding habits at roughly 2 months and 1 and 2
years of age. Parents of 3791 infants completed all three questionnaires and
were included in analyses.
Children exclusively breast fed for four months or more had less asthma, less
atopic dermatitis, and less suspected allergic rhinitis by age 2 than children
breast fed for a shorter period of time, with adjusted odds ratios of 0.7, 0.8,
and 0.7, respectively.
"A risk reduction also appeared for partial breast feeding on development of
asthma and severe symptoms of allergic disease," the team reports in the
December Archives of Diseases of Childhood.
Infants partially breast fed for six months or more had an adjusted odds
ratio for development of asthma of 0.7. However, due to "considerable" overlap
between the two groups, they say it was hard to "disentangle" the effects of
exclusive and partial breast feeding.
Children with a parental history of atopic disease derived the greatest
benefit from breast feeding, Dr. Wickman and colleagues say. By continuing to
follow this cohort of children they hope to see whether the protective effect of
breast feeding remains.
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