Long-term breastfeeding protects against childhood asthma

A cohort study results published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology showed that Longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding have a protective association with child asthma. Postnatal exposures, including breastfeeding, may influence asthma development.

Morbidity of childhood asthma accounts for up to 50% of asthma emergency visits. Although much progress has been made in terms to control asthma, there is still no cure for asthma and little is known about how to prevent it. Over the years, it has become evident that factors in early life, play important role in a child's susceptibility to developing asthma.

The study included 2,021 mother-child dyads and it aimed to investigate the association between breastfeeding duration and child asthma. Authors developed questionnaires asking mothers about durations of exclusive breastfeeding.

It was found that 16% of the children had current wheeze, 12% had asthma and 9% had strict current asthma. There found to be a duration-dependent protective association between exclusive breastfeeding and child asthma outcomes.

The researchers concluded that their findings provide evidence of protective associations between exclusive breastfeeding continued for longer durations and child asthma outcomes.