NEW YORK (MedscapeWire) May 08 — Longer duration of breast-feeding
reduces the risk of respiratory infections and improves adult
intelligence, according to the results of a study presented at the
2002 Pediatric Academic Societies and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
annual joint meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, and another study
published in the May 8 issue of
The Journal of the American
Medical Association. These findings support the AAP
recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.
"Infants fully breast-fed for 6 months had a significantly lower
risk for respiratory infections in the first 2 years, when compared
with babies who were fully breast-fed for 4 months," presenter
Caroline J. Chantry, from the University of California-Davis School of
Medicine, says in a news release. "Specifically, the chance of
contracting pneumonia was reduced fivefold with 2 additional months of
full breast-feeding while the risk of recurrent ear infections was
minimized twofold."
Chantry's group analyzed data on 2277 children aged 6 to 24 months
from NHANES III, a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey
conducted from 1988-1994. After adjustments for age, birth weight,
ethnicity, poverty, two-parent household, parental education, family
size, child care, and prenatal smoke exposure, those infants with 6
months of full breast-feeding had significantly fewer episodes of
pneumonia and recurrent otitis media than did infants with only 4
months of full breast-feeding.
"This finding, coupled with the proven increased protection babies
receive against gastrointestinal infections, adds to the mounting
evidence that the longer a mother breast-feeds her infant, the greater
the health benefits," Chantry says.
In the second study, data from a group of 973 men and women and a
separate group of 2280 men, all born in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1959
to 1961, were analyzed in a prospective, longitudinal, birth cohort
design. Longer duration of breast-feeding predicted significantly
higher verbal, performance, and full scale IQ on the Wechsler Adult
Intelligence Scale and comparable benefits on a Danish intelligence
test, even after adjustments for potential confounders.
"Breastfeeding may have long-term positive effects on cognitive and
intellectual development," write Erik L. Mortensen, PhD, from
Copenhagen University Hospital, and colleagues. "The nutrients in
breast milk, behavioral factors, and factors associated with choice of
feeding method may all contribute to the positive association."
Pediatric Academic Societies/AAP annual meeting: Abstract 1114. May
6, 2002.
JAMA. 2002;287(18):2365-2371
Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD
