Abstract
Prior studies investigating the relationship between infant feeding and infectious illnesses in developed countries have concluded that there is a protective effect of breast feeding against gastrointestinal illness during the first 6 months of life. However methodological shortcomings such as the failure: (1)to include illnesses managed at home, (2)to define carefully “illness” and “breast feeding,” and (3)to consider the effect of confounding variables, have weakened the conclusions of these studies.
We prospectively studied 500 infants born consecutively in a university affiliated ccmnunity hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark over the first 6 months of life using a detailed monthly mailed questionnaire (return rate at 6 months=77% (385/500)) wiich focused on feeding practices and illnesses. All or mostly breast feeding decreased from 88% (407/461) at 1 month to 7.5% (29/385) at 6 months of life. Using strict criteria for breast feeding and illnesses, gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses averaged 17.4%/month and upper respiratory (UR) illnesses averaged 27.8%/month. There was no relationship between the type of infant feeding and the incidence of these (GI and UR) or other infectious illnesses during the study period.
These data suggest there may be minimal protective effect of breast milk against infectious illnesses early in life in well fed urban populations in developed countries.
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Rubin, D., Leventhal, J., Krasilnikoff, P. et al. 46 DOES BREAST FEEDING PROTECT AGAINST INFECTIOUS DISEASE IN THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF LIFE IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES?. Pediatr Res 24, 412 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198809000-00069
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198809000-00069