Testing It Up

Breastfeeding has been regarded as the best method for providing nutrition to babies. According to a new study, breastfeeding one’s child for six months brings yet another advantage: it may help lower your baby’s risk of developing asthma.

A feature on WebMD shared that the study, which was published in the European Respiratory Journal, is the first to link breastfeeding to the amount of wheezing a child has in the later years.

Liesbeth Duijts, MD, PhD, a researcher at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, said: “Children who were never breastfed had almost 50% more risk of wheezing symptoms as compared to children who were breastfed for more than six months.”

On the other hand, it was determined that children who were breast-fed, but were given other milk and solids at an early age, were 20 percent more at risk when compared against babies who were only given breast milk.
The study conducted by Dujits and colleagues involved an evaluation of more than 5,000 children in the Netherlands. Parents were asked whether the participating children were breast-fed, and for how long, as well as when they were given other milk and solid food.

The evaluation indicated that 92.3% were reported to have never been breastfed; the data of how long they were breastfed and if it was exclusive were available for about 80% of the children.

Children who were never breastfed were reported to have an increased risk of dry cough, shortness of breath, constant phlegm, as well as wheezing during their first 4 years compared to babies who were breastfed for six months.