Lower respiratory infection risk is decreased in these infants in first year of life
MONDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -- Exclusive breast-feeding until age 6 months is slightly more protective against infectious diseases than exclusive breast-feeding for four months and partially thereafter, according to research published online June 21 in Pediatrics.
Liesbeth Duijts, M.D., of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study of breast-fed infants. They used questionnaires to assess rates of breast-feeding in the first six months and incidence of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), and gastrointestinal tract (GI) infection in 4,164 subjects.
The researchers found that breast-feeding exclusively for the first four months of life and partial breast-feeding thereafter was associated with lower odds, compared to never breast-feeding, of URTI, LRTI, and GI infections through 6 months of age (adjusted odds ratios [aORs], 0.65, 0.50, and 0.41, respectively). The decreased risk of LTRI persisted from age 7 months to 12 months (aOR, 0.46). Exclusive breast-feeding for six months resulted in a slightly decreased infection risk compared to exclusive breast-feeding for four months and then partial breast-feeding. Partial breast-feeding during the first four to six months of life did not result in significant decreases in infection risk compared to not breast-feeding at all.
"We consider that our results are in line with the World Health Organization recommendation of exclusive breast-feeding until infants are 6 months old instead of 4 months, and our results support current health-policy strategies that promote exclusive breast-feeding for six months in industrialized countries," the authors write.
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