Breastfeeding Could Reduce Asthma, Allergy Risk

Breastfeeding for the first 3 months of life is associated with a reduced risk of respiratory allergies and asthma later in childhood, according to the results of a recent study.

Previous research has suggested that breastfeeding could help to reduce the risk of respiratory allergies and asthma. However, many of these studies have been limited in scope, examining only never vs ever breastfeeding and not exploring the differences between exclusive vs partial breastfeeding, according to the authors.

They conducted a longitudinal study using data from 1177 mother-infant pairs from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II. Breastfeeding practices were reported on a monthly basis and allergy and asthma status was examined at age 6 years.

Of the 1177 infants, 32.9% were exclusively breastfed until age 3 months. Of these, 20.8% had diagnoses of respiratory allergies and 11.3% with diagnoses of asthma by age 6 years. Overall, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 3 months of life was associated with a reduced relative risk of respiratory allergies and asthma of 0.77 and 0.66, respectively. However, asthma risk was only reduced in children without a family history of asthma.

“Our results encourage exclusive breastfeeding for first 3 months of life through health promotion programs,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:
Bigman G. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 3 months of life may reduce the risk of respiratory allergies and some asthma in children at the age of 6 years [published online March 3, 2020]. Acta Paediatr. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.15162