Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Breast feeding cuts Asthma Risk

There is more good news for parents that have been exclusively breastfeeding, a recent published by AAAAI clearly shows that Babies who are exclusively breast-fed for their first four months of life have a reduced risk of asthma during their first four years. Researchers analyzed data about 4,089 infants and found that asthma rate was 6.4 percent among 4-year-old children who'd been exclusively breast-fed for the first four months or longer, compared with 9.1 percent of those who'd been exclusively breast-fed for less than four months.The important thing to note is that these kids had been given NOTHING but breast feed for the first 4 months. The study also found that continued partial breast-feeding after exclusive breast-feeding also helped protect children against asthma.
Given the trend of increasing asthma in Indian kids, this study shows a simple way to try and reduce this epidemic disease.
SOURCE: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, news release, Sept. 16, 2004

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