Protect your child from asthma by breastfeeding…
A UK study has shown a link between breastfeeding and a lower incidence of asthma in young children, with those who’d been breastfed for six months or more having a significantly reduced risk of asthma – particularly among young boys.
Researchers looked at 7,000 school children age 6-15 years. “Breastfed children showed lower prevalence rates of asthma, rhinitis and eczema, and the effect of breastfeeding was more evident in boys than girls,” says study author Dr Mohammad Shamssain. “Asthma and wheeze were resolved significantly earlier in breastfed children than those who were not breastfed.”
The University of Sunderland team discovered that breastfeeding lowers the incidence of allergic disorders, and that children breastfed for up to four to nine months had a significantly lower risk of asthma. Those breastfed for up to seven to nine months had lower instances of persistence wheezing and coughing.
“Breastfeeding is a cost-effective approach to a significant prevention of allergic disease in children,” says Dr Shamssain. Our research demonstrates that exclusive breastfeeding prevents the development of allergic diseases in children.”
Additional study findings indicate that both boys and girls in the highest BMI (body mass index) percentile, and are therefore classified as obese, have higher prevalence rates of asthma and respiratory symptoms (wheeze, cough, breathlessness and exercise-induced wheezing) than non-obese children.
“The association between overweight and exercise-induced wheezing is stronger in boys than girls,” says Dr Shamssain. “In boys, the risk of being overweight is associated with exercise-induced wheezing, life-time asthma, and current wheeze. In girls, the risk of being overweight is mainly associated with exercise-induced wheezing.
“These results demonstrate that obesity is a definite risk factor in asthma among young children, and there are gender differences regarding the respiratory risk of obesity.”