By
Merritt McKinney, Medical Tribune News Service
SAN DIEGO -- Adding to growing evidence that breast-feeding can
boost a child's health, a study presented here Sunday shows that
consuming breast milk can reduce the risk of developing asthma.
Compared
with children given milk other than breast milk before they were
4 months old, those who were breast-fed exclusively for four months
or longer were much less likely to develop asthma by their sixth
birthday, according to the study, which was presented at the joint
annual meeting of the American Lung Association and the American
Thoracic Society.
Those who were breast-fed exclusively for less than four months
were 27 percent more likely to develop asthma than other children,
the study showed. And they were 44 percent more likely to experience
excessive wheezing during the first year of life.
Baby
formula may be more convenient than breast milk, but it is ``fast
food for babies,'' according to the study's author, Wendy H. Oddy
of the University of Western Australia in Perth. ``It's very difficult
to make a formula'' that can compete with breast milk, she said.
During
the first few months of life, a number of substances in mother's
milk, including immunoglobulins, help an infant's immune system
to develop.
``It sets people up for life,'' Oddy said. ``Maybe the message
isn't getting through'' that breast-feeding is good for a child's
health, she added.
The
Australian researcher and her colleagues based the findings on
2,834 children who were followed from birth until they turned
6 years old. The study also found that children who consumed milk
other than mother's milk at a younger age were more likely to
have wheezing problems during the night and tended to be diagnosed
with asthma at a younger age.
