While the benefits of exclusively breastfeeding an infant have been well studied, a new study has found a link between breastfeeding and childhood allergies, raising new questions over the choice between breastmilk and formula.
Breastfeeding does undoubtedly have benefits. The World Health Organization calls it “the ideal food for infants,” and recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed until six months old. Breastfeeding has been associated with higher intelligence tests and lower rates of early asthma.
However, a research team from the University of Toyama, Japan, led by Professor Emeritus Hidekuni Inadera and using data from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study JECS set out to discover if there was any correlation between breastfeeding and food allergies.
Using JECS data, the research team was able to study the cases of over 88,000 mother-child pairs from Japan, splitting the infants into four groups: those who were exclusively formula fed for six months, those who were breastfed for less than six months, those who were partially breastfed with formula supplementation for six months, and those who were exclusively breastfed (EBF) for six months.
The children were assessed annually until six years old for caregiver-reported and physician-diagnosed allergies.
The study did confirm some of the benefits found in EBF children. Children who were exclusively breastfed were found to have a 37% lower risk of asthma during the first year of life and a 19% lower risk in the second year.
Additionally, EBF children were found to have reduced risk of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (similar to hay fever).
However, the risk of developing food allergies increased significantly. Children who were exclusively breastfed had an 82% higher risk in the first year, 62% at age two, and 54% at age three. After this point, the increased risk gradually weakened.
Interestingly, this effect difference varied by sex, with increased allergy risk being higher in male children.
While the correlation between exclusively breastfeeding and higher prevalence of food allergy was found, the researchers did put forth other potential explanations.
One such explanation may be the age at which other foods are introduced into an infant’s diet. Previous studies have shown that exposure to common food allergens such as eggs and peanuts between four and six months may help prevent such allergies.
This phenomenon became well known in Israel due to the decreased number of children with peanut allergies when compared with children of similar ancestry in the UK.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the early introduction of peanuts, in Israel usually done through the snack food Bamba, made a significant difference when it came to peanut allergies, with infants who started eating it between the ages of four and 11 months having a lower risk.
Source:
www.jpost.com
