TUESDAY, Sept. 21, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- Babies who are breast-fed for their first four months of life have a reduced risk of asthma during their first four years, says a Swedish study in the October issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Researchers analyzed data about 4,089 infants and found an asthma rate of 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.
Exclusive breast-feeding was defined as the period when infants received only breast milk.
This protective effect was greatest among children whose parents did not have asthma or allergies. The study also found that continued partial breast-feeding after exclusive breast-feeding also helped protect children against asthma.
In a previous study, the same researchers found the same results in children at 2 years of age.
More information
The American Academy of Pediatrics has more about breast-feeding.
