Longer Breast-Feeding May Not Protect From Childhood Eczema
Laurie Barclay, MD
August 31, 2011 — Longer breast-feeding may not protect against childhood eczema, according to the results of a large cohort study reported online August 23 in the British Journal of Dermatology.
«Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 4 months is recommended by many governments and allergy organizations to prevent allergic disease,» write Carsten Flohr, PhD, from St. Thomas’ Hospital and Kings’ College in London, United Kingdom, and colleagues from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Two Study Group.
The goal of the study was to determine whether exclusive breast-feeding would have a protective effect against the development of eczema in childhood. Participants included 51,119 schoolchildren, aged 8 to 12 years, who were randomly selected from 21 countries. A parental questionnaire was used to collect data regarding eczema and breast-feeding, and children were also evaluated for flexural eczema and had skin-prick testing. For each study center, odds ratios (ORs) of the likelihood of eczema in association with breast-feeding were calculated, and these ORs were pooled across populations.
The risk for reported «eczema ever» in association with «breast-feeding ever» and breast-feeding for less than 6 months was slightly increased (pooled adjusted OR, 1.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 – 1.22 and OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.02 – 1.20, respectively). However, reported «eczema ever» was not significantly associated with breast-feeding for longer than 6 months (pooled adjusted OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.94 – 1.26). For exclusive breast-feeding less than 2 months, 2 to 4 months, and longer than 4 months, risk estimates were very similar, as they were for eczema symptoms in the past 12 months and skin examination positive for eczema.
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