Breastfeeding may protect against asthma

Exclusive breastfeeding during the first 4 months of life may reduce a child's risk of developing asthma by their eighth birthday, according to a new study that followed nearly 4,000 Swedish children over 8 years, stratifying them according to whether they had been breast-fed exclusively or partially, and for a short term or long term. The team found that about 12% of children who were exclusively breast-fed for at least the first 4 months of life developed asthma by age 8, compared with 18% of those breast-fed for a shorter amount of time. This translated into a 37% lower risk of asthma for those breast-fed for 4 months or longer, after adjusting for other risk factors such as maternal smoking and birth weight. The difference appeared to be driven mostly by allergy-related cases of asthma.

The extended and exclusive diet of breast milk also resulted in better lung function at age 8, the researchers reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.