Breastfeeding,
why...
Hospitalization
for respiratory disease
Galton Bachrach
VR, Schwarz E, Bachrach LR. Breastfeeding and the risk
of hospitalization for respiratory disease in infancy:
a meta-analysis. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2003;157:237-43
The risk of
hospitalization for lower respiratory tract diseases in
healthy, full-term breastfed infants with access to modern
medical care is lower even in high income countries. Data
from 33 studies were analysed. Infants who were not breastfed
had a more than three times higher risk of hospitalization
for severe respiratory illness compared with those who
were exclusively breastfed for 4 months. This effect remained
stable and statistically significant after adjusting for
the effects of smoking or socio-economic status.
Asthma
and allergy
Kull I, Wickman
M, Lilja G, Nordvall SL, Pershagen G. Breast feeding
and allergic diseases in infants-a prospective birth cohort
study. Arch Dis Child 2002;87:478-81
Allergy has
been consistently related to artificial feeding among
children. To investigate the effect of breastfeeding on
allergic diseases up to 2 years of age, a birth cohort
of 4,089 infants was followed prospectively in Stockholm.
Children exclusively breastfed during 4 months or more
had about 30% less asthma, 20% less atopic dermatitis,
and 30% less suspected allergic rhinitis by 2 years of
age. There was also a significant 30% risk reduction for
asthma if partial breastfeeding had been maintained 6
months or more.
Da Costa Lima
RC, Victora CG, Menezes AMB, Barros FC. Do risk factors
for childhood infections and malnutrition protect against
asthma? A study of Brazilian male adolescents. Am
J Public Health 2003;93:1858-64
This article
contradicts the previous one, but it was carried out in
a different environment, with different methods and for
a different age group. About 18% of a birth cohort of
2,250 male 18-year-olds reported having asthma. Several
childhood factors were found to be significantly associated
with increased asthma risk: being of high socio-economic
status, living in an uncrowded household, and being breastfed
for 9 months or longer. These results are consistent with
the "hygiene hypothesis", according to which
early exposure to infections provides protection against
asthma. Should breastfeeding more than 9 months be confirmed
as a risk factor for asthma, the policy implications would
be unclear given its protective effect against other serious
childhood diseases.
Brain
development
Wang B, McVeagh
P, Petocz P, Brand-Miller J. Brain ganglioside and
glycoprotein sialic acid in breastfed compared with formula-fed
infants. Am J Clin Nutr 2003;78:1024-9
The concentration
of sialic acid in the brain has been linked to learning
ability in animal studies. Human milk is a rich source
of sialic acid. In this study, the sialic acid concentration
in the brain of breastfed and formula-fed infants was
compared in 25 samples of frontal cortex derived from
infants who died of sudden infant death syndrome. Higher
sialic acid concentrations in infants fed human milk suggest
an increased potential for brain development.
Bouwstra H,
Boersma ER, Boehm G, Dijck-Brouwer DA, Muskiet FA, Hadders-Algra
M. Exclusive breastfeeding of healthy term infants
for at least 6 weeks improves neurological condition.
J Nutr 2003;133:4243-5
Might there
be a minimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding necessary
for optimal neurological outcome? The quality of general
movements (GM), a sensitive marker of neurological condition,
was assessed at 3 months in 147 breastfed, healthy, term
infants followed from birth. GM were classified as normal-optimal,
normal-suboptimal, mildly abnormal and definitely abnormal.
Information on social and pre- and perinatal conditions,
and the duration of breastfeeding, was collected prospectively.
After adjustment for these factors, there was a positive
association between breastfeeding duration and GM quality
until approximately 6 weeks of age. In infants exclusively
breastfed for 6 weeks or less (n = 55), 18% exhibited
normal-optimal, 47% normal-suboptimal, and 47% mildly
abnormal GM. In contrast, in infants exclusively breastfed
for more than 6 weeks (n = 92), 43% exhibited normal-optimal,
45% nomal-suboptimal, and 12% mildly abnormal GM.
Good
night!
Horne RS, Parslow
PM, Ferens D, Watts AM, Adamson TM. Comparison of evoked
arousability in breast and formula fed infants. Arch
Dis Child 2004;89:22-5
Arousal from
sleep is believed to be an important survival mechanism
that may be impaired in victims of sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS). In this study of 43 healthy term infants,
arousal thresholds were measured at 2-4 weeks, 2-3 months,
and 5-6 months. Arousal thresholds were not different
between breastfed and formula-fed infants in quiet sleep.
However, in active sleep, breastfed infants were more
easily arousable than formula-fed infants at 2-3 months
of age, the age with the peak incidence of SIDS. There
was no difference between groups of infants when the sleep
period length was compared.
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